Down the Bad Road
by Iandude
Summary: After a single wrong turn, Ron Stoppable has found himself thrust into the role of Monster Hunter. How will he be able to balance school, sidekickery and this new World of Darkness? Posted from the actual quest on SB.
1. Prelude 1- Mistakes Made

You had been having a bad day. In fact, in the chronicle of misfortunes that was the life of Ronald Dean Stoppable, you'd probably list it as one of the worst in quite a while. Losing out on sleep because you had to go help Kim for a late night mission in Cairo was no big, really. If anything, you'd gotten used to it over the past few months. Who needs more than four hours to get stuff done, right? Getting stuff done didn't include last night's English Homework, it never really did. But then again, that stuff was always kind of stupid. Who cared what Bram Stoker thought, the dude had been dead for a hundred years! Of course things would get worse. They always did on Wednesdays, you know?

Rufus had a cold, so he couldn't come with you to school. You'd spent enough time setting up his bed and preparing the perfectly warmed naco cheese for his consumption later that you'd managed to get into school late. That translated into having to deal with Mr. Barkin yelling at you for the greater part of an hour. After arriving in English class late, and unable to hand in your homework due to having spent the most of last night fighting baddies, you found yourself locked up in detention for the second time this week. And who else would monitor the "troubled children" other than Mr. Barkin? The stare he always gave you was enough to make the small two hour spam seem like an eternity. The man had it out for you, that much was clear.

As detention ended, you'd managed to somehow position yourself in just in the right way to have been in range of Big Mike when he opened up his soda, which you're pretty sure got a good shaking when Mr. Barkin had been yelling at him earlier today for accidentally breaking a table he walked into. Normally, getting splashed by that wouldn't have been a big deal, but everything that you'd been going through today had just made you more than willing to be done with just about everything now. All you wanted to do was go home, switch shirts so you didn't feel gross and check up on Rufus. Maybe even get some nacos for the two of you while you were walking, so that you could enjoy them together while watching reruns of Fearless Ferret. It was around six now, and would be a badical end to what was otherwise a very bad day.

You were so entranced by the thoughts of cheesy goodness that you hadn't noticed you'd taken a left earlier than you should have, instead of going through the main road you'd found yourself in a dim alley. The moment you'd realized where you were, the voice in the back of your mind started to scream that this place was (literally) bad road, but you'd already gotten halfway through to the other end of the street. Swallowing your fear of being mugged or attacked here, you slowly started to advance towards the exit of the avenue nearby. Your eyes darted through the occasional pile of trash or discarded furniture to the side area, looking for the phantoms or monster to come out and get you in such a vulnerable state. A small part of your brain knew that you were over-reacting to this whole thing but you'd known to trust your gut in things like these. Focusing on the shine of a store's sign in the distance, you continued to close the gap between alley and road. You were almost there! You could get out and just go get so-

A splattering noise caught your ear right as you neared the road. Almost instinctively, you could feel your eyes rolling towards the sky. Of course your luck wouldn't hold out in this sort of situation. It never did. Taking a few breaths to steel yourself, you walked towards the source of the noise- a darkened brown fence, only illuminated by the light of a streetlamp. Creeping a little closer, you could only hope that someone had decided to paint their fence at night and promptly tripped over the can while doing so. It was better than every small alternative your mind was playing over and over as you stepped closer. A small squelch was the final indicator, pulling up your shoe to see a liquid almost black in the dim light of the alley.

You froze, waiting for anything, praying that whatever was there thought it was just an animal of something. Close by a small animal knocked over some loose garbage, breaking the silence and ending your own panicked immobility. Carefully placing you next foot, you creeped closer still to the source of the disturbances, against every instinct screaming at you. They all paled next to the one resolution reverberating through your head.

Someone was in trouble, and you needed to help them.

You looked over the fence, hoping to discover some small hole in the wooden pieces to figure out what was happening. Taking care to make as little noise as possible, and having entered full mission mode, you crept towards a small opening a few inches away from your right knee. Slowly squatting down, you allowed your eyes to reach the little gap in the fence's coverage.

The moment you had, you were glad you didn't scream. There was a body there, on the ground. You couldn't really notice anything more beyond the small trickle of blood that had been flowing down to the fence. No, your mind had been preoccupied with the second figure in the scene. It was standing right next to the first, wearing a black hoodie and jeans. You watched as it reached down, and bit into the neck of what you could only now call a victim.

As if something broke in your mind, the only thing you could think of doing was fleeing. Your feet pounded on the pavement, going faster and farther away from that sick and wrong image as you channeled every desperate escape attempt you had ever made into your sprint. Your ran for what seemed like hours, not even sure of where you were going in the city before you finally stopped.

Huffing and puffing, you found a nearby wall of whatever building you were next to and pulled out your trusty cell phone. You flipped it open and hastily pushed the three-digit combination to contact the police. It took a few moments before a voice came through on the other side.

"911, please state the nature of your emergency."

You gathered your breath for a second before saying the first thing that came to mind.

"I just saw a guy getting killed!"

There was a short pause, before whomever was on the line continued.

"Could you tell us the exact location of the crime scene, please?"

You tried to search your memory for any hint of where exactly it was, but the details outside of the horrific scene eluded you.

"It's near the Bueno Nacho close to the Middleton Mall, in a backyard near one of the alleys."

That was the best you could do.

"Thank you, a pair of officers will be sent to investigate the area. Did you see the perpetrator?"

"You mean the vampire?"

There was a silence on the other line for a few seconds.

"Could you repeat that, sir?"

"The suspect was a vampire. You know, prowler of the night, bloodsucker and biter of necks? I saw him drinking the victim's blood!"

The was a small pause at the other side of the line before the dispatcher came back on.

"This better not be some prank, understand? Murder is serious business, and if you're wasting our time you're putting others in danger for your joke. The officers are beginning their sweep now, to look for a dead body, while keeping on the lookout for a possibly deranged individual. Good night."

Then the line went dead, presumably as she hung up. You were glad that they didn't dismiss it out of hand, but this was a world with supervillains and death rays! Was it so hard to believe that vampires could also be a thing?

Of course, someone had to stop that. But you couldn't just do that, you weren't enough. You dialed the most commonly used number on your phone, and waited until the ringing noise was replaced with one you'd been hearing only hours earlier.

"Hey Ron, what's the sitch?"

"Nothing much KP, Rufus is still sick, Big Mike spilled some soda on me and I JUST SAW A VAMPIRE!"

Okay, so maybe yelling it at the top of your lungs wasn't the best way to open up the conversation.

"Could you maybe tone it down a little bit, Ron? I'm kind of eating dinner right now, and dad's giving me a really weird look from across the table."

"Sorry, Kim."

"Are you sure it was a Vampire you saw? I'm pretty sure those only exist in stories, and we have been forced to read Dracula for English class. Maybe you just saw something and it was on your mind? You do tend to exaggerate things..."

"Come on, Kim! When have I eve-"

"The Smarty Mart people being replaced by Lizard people last week."

"Hey, they didn't know about the newest deals of the season!" Really, was it so hard to keep track of how the price of peanut butter was in the packaged food section of the store?

"... Right. Look, I'm not saying you're making things up Ron. I'm just saying that maybe you should take a second to step back and think it over. Get some sleep and just come back to it later. Now, I've got to go-Mom's glaring at me now-see you tomorrow."

And then she hung up. But you couldn't stop, you knew what you saw. Something had killed that man, and might try harming even more people. You were going to stop it.

Someone had to, after all.

Of course, you still couldn't do this all by yourself. You weren't dumb enough to face a creature of the night by yourself; that would be suicide. You needed to get some assistance here if you wanted to live, and you wanted to be sure that they wouldn't just reject you out of hand. Even now, you had a few possible candidates:

 **Choose one:**

[X] Mr. Barkin: Okay, no matter how much you think the substitute teacher hates your guts, he _is_ a former military... something. Then again, you had no idea how he'd react to you telling him you saw a Vampire. He could believe you, or you could end up with another helping of detention for wasting his time. You weren't sure which was more likely.

 **A/N: This is something I was working on in another site that I thought would be fun to post here and get your reactions. I hope you all enjoy the story as it unfolds.**


	2. Prelude 2- The Veteran

You didn't sleep much that night, how could you? You'd both been subject to one of the most horrifying sights of your life and then resolved to stop such a thing from happening again. Your veins were pounding with fear and adrenaline in equal measures, and you couldn't help but try to get _something_ done if you weren't going to be sleeping. Normally this would have included favorite reruns of Fearless Ferret and a few late-night nacos to make everything better, yet the sleeping form of Rufus trashed that idea. The little guy was sick, and he needed rest much more than you needed some late-night entertainment. That severely limited your options for fun times.

He'd hear the TV, and even then you wouldn't watch Fearless Ferret without your best buddy beside you. You wouldn't be able to play zombie mayhem, or any other videogames for that matter. You'd be too loud eventually and wake him. Making emergency foodstuffs was also out of the question. If the sound of cooking food or the noise from rustling through the refrigerator weren't the thing that would wake him, the smells from whatever it was you decided to eat would. Looking over your room, you quickly discounted pretty much everything. The computer would inevitably have you playing videogames, tossing in bed just seemed like a waste of your time and you didn't feel like doing your homework. What essential life skills or lessons did the teacher think you learn from Dracu-

Oh. Oh _wow_. Yeah, you almost forgot that was the book you'd been assigned to read for homework. Of course, you hadn't touched a page. Kim usually needed to goad you into doing this. You could almost hear the sirens in the distance. Heck, you checked outside the window to see if the skies were raining fire.

It was a cold day in Hell when Ron Stoppable did his homework freely, after all.

Cracking open the book, you started to check over the pages of the reading material. Soon, you found yourself taking some rudimentary notes as you read through the journal entries that made up the piece's contents. The usual ideas came out: that vampires sucked blood, they could create more vampires through other people, they were weak to sunlight and could also be killed.

You started really getting into it after the first hour, though you found you were less interested in the actual facts of the Vampires then you were the story of the hunters. They all seemed so normal to have been the people to take Dracula. I mean, the dude was a pop culture legend, not to mention he is more commonly known as the vampire. It was badical in a reassuring way to think that it could be done, even if it was complicated. By the time you'd realized you'd finished the homework you were supposed to do was written down, if sloppily, on a bunch of papers right next to you. You took the moment of rest you had to check the clock once more, it was a few minutes past seven, before deciding that maybe for once it would be best if you arrived in school on time.

No, you'd get there early just to throw everyone off. Never say that Ron Stoppable couldn't be spontaneous! You would never be normal, and being so predictable was just something you didn't like doing. Heck, you could even be productive on the way there, too! There were some issues you needed to think about, after all.

Of course, you did have to prepare Rufus' food for today, too. You didn't want to let your little buddy stay sick, and one day off probably wasn't enough for him to bounce back totally yet. You took a few hunks of cheese from the fridge and lay them out on the cutting board for him to eat at his leisure later. After that, you opened the door to the crisp early morning air and set out for Middleton High School.

As you walked, you thought about your ideas on whom to recruit, wondering which of them you would approach today.

Kim was almost immediately your first thought, but you weren't sure what you were about to do was worth risking her friendship. Just bugging her when she'd already told you not to do this was probably not the best idea. If you wanted to talk with her about this, you concluded that you'd have to do it later than today.

Monique was out for now too. It probably wasn't likely she'd believe your claims right now, and she'd likely go to Kim who would say you were just telling a wild story. So she wasn't viable for now.

After that, your mind went to Tara. She was a pretty awesome girl to be around, but you really weren't sure you wanted to throw her into this just yet. Really, putting friends in danger was not cool not matter how much you wanted help with this. Maybe you'd think about talking to her later, when you had a better idea of what exactly you wanted out of her.

Next on your prospective list was Brick. There wasn't really any other reason to have included him outside of your own miniscule amounts of pragmatism. The guys was pretty strong, and actually kinda cool to be around when he wasn't with Bonnie or any of her friends. You really could have used him for this, but you didn't think going to him first would be the best idea.

That only lef-

"Stoppable." Mr. Barkin's voice came out clearly from the classroom you were in. Huh, apparently your body had been on autopilot long enough to get you in class. It looked like he was doing role call, like every class he ended up subbing for was put through.

"Here." You responded absently before going back to your thoughts.

Yeah, going to Mr. Barkin was probably the best choice you had to approach. He had skill, experience and if you wanted to start this off well, you needed to get someone who knew what he was doing. You weren't even sure he'd doubt you that much, if at all. You did go hunt for a Yeti with him back on the ski trip last semester, so may-

"STOPPABLE!" The substitute teacher in question yelled right next to your face. With a start, you few backwards, hitting the floor in a totally uncool way. You must have really been off your game if you didn't notice him getting so close. You made a mental note to go take a nap when you got home, or to just do it in Math. It's not like the teacher there cared. You picked yourself up among the usual snickers and giggles that honestly were more annoying than hurtful at this point. You could only ask they have some variety in your smug amusement.

"Do you have the assignment, Stoppable?" Oh yeah, that. In the corner of your eye you could see Kim shaking her head in resignation while everyone else just rolled their eyes and went to ignore the coming tirade.

Wow, you _had_ gotten really predictable. Well then, time to show them all that Ron Stoppable was not just some normal slacker. You nodded at Mr. Barkin before unzipping your backback and pulling out the proper assignment, all five completed pages of work. Taking a moment to revel in the strict teacher's face going slack, you handed in the work. As if shocked by the very idea this was possible, the substitute teacher personally sat down in front of the desk and took up the teacher's notes while checking the work you'd done, his pen scratching in a now eerily silent room.

As he continued on, you took a moment to capture the image of your classmates' stunned faces. You could even swear you saw some people with their jaws hanging open. As your eyes found Kim, she gave you a small smile and a thumbs up in response, which only made this day just that much more badical.

Having finally finished surveying the classroom, you turned your attention back to the teacher, who had put down the paper and simply started rubbing his temples. Looking over the clock, you watched as the remaining minutes ticked by to the end of the period. As everyone got up, Mr. Barkin looked directly at you. His stare was enough to know you probably shouldn't try moving, even if your brain was screaming at you to bolt. After the last few students left the room, the substitute teacher closed the door and motioned for you to step forward. Awkwardly, you got closer to the imposing man as he took the time to look you over. You stopped when you were a few inches away from him. He stared you down for a few seconds, before holding up your homework.

"What is this, Stoppable?" You knew what he was talking about, but with the man standing right in front of you and glaring as hard as he possibly could, it was rather intimidating to behold. Even if the answer was obvious.

"I-its my homework, sir."

His eyes narrowed, flitting back to the sheets of paper that were the subject of all this trouble.

"That is the homework for the entire week, Stoppable. Not just today. Now, could you explain to me why the school's resident slacker just happened to get seven days of homework done in one night." You couldn't help but hear the accusations in his tone, even if he didn't intend to put it there.

As if sensing your discomfort, he continued. "Normally I'd say something like this would be the result of someone just copying answers from off the internet, but I know you Stoppable. The D-Hall crew might try something like that, but not you. These papers are the real thing, and I want to know- is there a problem, Stoppable? I know you wouldn't do this normally, so something must have happened. What. Was. It?" He punctuated every word in that last sentence with a step, until his face was looking down with less than an inch of space. You wanted to collapse into yourself, to just wink out of existence right there.

But you wouldn't, you couldn't.

"I-i-i" Okay, so maybe you could just fail that much. Then again, there wasn't really a better opportunity than this.

"Vampire."

The substitute teacher cocked his head at you, as if not really understanding what you had said.

"Could you repeat that, Stoppable? This time so I can hear it."

With a loud gulp, you looked Mr. Barkin in the eye.

"I, uh, saw a vampire on the walk home last night. You know, bloodsuckers, dwellers of the night? Yeah, I saw one eating a person-wow I'm really calm about this aren't I?- and I kind of wanted to ask you to, you know, help me fight it..."

Silence. You waited for a few seconds, expecting the inevitable laughter or disbelief that you would have considered a normal reaction. As you raise your head, you spotted the man leaning on a wall near the door, his right hand massaging his forehead. You weren't sure whether or not that meant he believed you, but you thought it was better than many of the other responses he could have given.

Maybe you shou-

"Are you serious, Stoppable?" He said it in a tone so quiet it was almost a whisper. You were caught off guard by the sudden shift in Mr. Barkin's demeanor, but you tried your best to give him his answer.

"Y-yes, sir."

At that, the substitute teacher approached you, and came closer enough that you could see his brown eyes. "That's not good enough, Stoppable. I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me: Are you telling me the truth?"

You returned his gaze, even as it made you wanted to shuffle uncomfortably, with your eyes meeting his. You swallowed back what fear you had, and opened your mouth.

"I am, sir."

The brown orbs narrowed at this, as if searching for something before he turned away. Mr. Barkin went to the door and opened it.

"Then I'm in, Stoppable. Now get going to class. We'll talk about this later."

Well, score one for the good guys, it seems.

 **Choose one:**

[X] Tara: She's a pretty badical girl, and one of the only friendly cheerleaders in the school. Sure, she might not believe in what you're telling, but she'd likely humor you anyway because that's just the way she does things. She is a skilled acrobat, and a charismatic enough person besides that. The issue of conflicting schedules will probably come up again, though.

Barkin's note: She'd probably say yes if you ask her, and she would come with a lot of skills. You will run the risk of putting her in danger if she chooses to accept. Keep that in mind.


	3. Prelude 3- The Jock

The rest of the day passed without much incident. You managed to get a bit of shuteye during math class without getting yelled at, and you weren't subject to any truly nasty things today. Heck, Bonnie was only near you long enough to call you a loser once before having to go do something else! You chalked it up to your innate Ron-ness finally starting to get to her, but then Kim had to point out that you were too tired to actually respond for once. That stung, but the compliment on the renewed work ethic you'd been showing made it all better. It always seemed like she just had that ability to just brighten your day like that.

As the two of you walked out of school later that day, you made sure to stop by the Bueno Nacho nearby for some cheesy goodness to deliver to Rufus. Of course, you got yourself a naco to eat with Kim while you waited. While she decided to stick to a soda, you waited to see if she wanted to say anything to you before allowing your mind to shift to other things right now. You'd been glad Barkin had accepted your offer to help you with this. It took a weight off your shoulders, not having to do all of this on your own. Of course, you still had to figure out who you wanted to recruit next. You looked up at Kim to see her idly flicking around her straw in the cup, seemingly bored out of her mind.

Yeah, you didn't feel particularly like approaching her about this yet. Maybe you'd put it off until you'd gotten a good idea of how exactly you wanted to break it to her? Yeah, that seemed like a good idea... Though sticking around still made you feel a little bit guilty every time you thought about how you were doing something so important without her. Pushing that bit of remorse deep into your core, you stood up and gave Kim your trademarked Ronshine smile before turning to get the takeout you'd ordred to Rufus. Sure, getting Bueno Nacho two days in a row was kind of expensive on the nonexistent budget you had, but Rufus was sick and you'd been going through a lot of heavy stuff.

If you didn't deserve to spoil yourself in times like these, when would you?

As you continued the walk home, you considered who you would approach later out of the remaining candidates.

Tara was still out. She had cheerleading practice tomorrow, and you weren't exactly comfortable yet with coming to her for help here. You were trying to think of a few ways for her to help outside of the big combat roles, but you weren't really coming up with much yet. Maybe you'd get hit by some inspiration later if you thought hard enough about it.

Monique was in a similar situation. You still didn't feel okay with risking a friend and you weren't sure how to approach her about all of this yet. You wanted to make sure she was on board if you asked her, and didn't want word of that getting back to Kim if you weren't successful. That would only complicate matters...

Brick... might actually work. You still weren't sure what exactly you'd say to him nor how to get him away from Bonnie to get a word in at all, but you were pretty sure he was viable. Sure, you didn't really know the guy that well but he would be a good asset in the physical department, more importantly in the 'beating up monsters' area of that. He'd be worth considering.

You gave a few thoughts to possibly trying to get big Mike or one of the D-Hallers in on that, but you weren't sure they'd really work well given the circumstances. They wren't exactly the brightest bunch after all, and were basically pariahs within the normal food chain to a point where Bonnie liked them less than even you. So they were out for n-

"Hnng?"

Oh yeah, you had a pet mole rat to feed. Rufus looked at you with greed in his eyes as his nose hairs twitched oh so predictably towards the bag of greasy goodness you had been carrying. Complying with the unspoken request that you hand over the goods before he decided to do something desperate, you opened that bag and rolled out the nacos for him to eat before going up to your room to think some more.

As you lay down in your bed, just trying to figure out what you were going to do, you kept going over the ideas in your head repeatedly. As time wore on, you finally came to the decision of approaching Brick tomorrow to give the offer. Then, you spent more of your time trying to generate some idea of how you'd separate Brick from the normal crowd he tended to be with. More specifically, how to get him away from Bonnie. You could hit him with a stink bomb that you'd borrow from one of the D-Hallers, if the man smelled terrible there'd be no way Bonnie and the other would stick around. Wait, no. That was too mean. Okay, so maybe you could do something to Bonnie to get her to go away? Maybe you could accidentally splash some juice or something on her? No, that wouldn't end well either, and Brick would probably go to help her out anyway. Heck, maybe it would just be best if you just let the chips fall and dealt with whatever opportunities you were given tomorrow.

"snnrk, Ron?"

… And now Rufus was staring at you with a concerned look in his eyes. Was it really so unusual for you to act so seriously? Sure, you were sometimes better known for your laid-back attitude, but even that wasn't always there. The mole rat's head twitched towards you, before holding out this thumbs up in an almost unsure manner. You'd kept the poor guy out of the loop because he was sick when everything happened, but you wouldn't just let your little buddy down like that. No, if there was anyone you had to tell about this, it was him.

"Hey Rufus, I saw a vampire two days ago."

"Hnng?" The mole rat looked at you, face filled with confusion. After a few seconds, he held his pink arms up and flashed his front teeth as much as he could as if to question that was what you meant when you said vampire.

"Yes Rufus, that type of vampire. Bloodsucker, prowler of the night. I even saw the guy eating someone before I ran away. It's totally freaky!"

Rufus let out a small screech at that, and a small thud impacting you was showing that his thin little arms wrapped around you. Of course he would, he was your best little buddy and the two of you had been through practically everything together. He would have believed you even if you said the sky was falling, because he knew you wouldn't lie about something like that. Of course, that he shivered in fear even as he tried to comfort you told him that he would rather not have believed what you were saying.

"Come on, Rufus. I know the thing sounds scary, but it'll be okay. I'm going to fight him, and I've already got some people to help me. The question is, are you willing to give me a hand?"

You watched as the little guy slowly collected himself before giving you a resolute salute with a prideful huff. This guy would be working with you through thick and thin. Of course, there wasn't really much you could do tonight, so you figured it was time for the both of you to de-stress and just have a good night for once.

"So, I heard the Fearless Ferret movie was on tonight." And like that, Rufus was already out of the room. As you settled in front of the TV in the living room, you prepared for a night of fun adventure and heroics while you planned for tomorrow.

After two hours of Timothy North's glorious acting, you went to bed and awaited the beginning of the next day.

Once again, you managed to wake up to the shill beeping sound of your alarm clock, and had gotten dressed before starting off on your journey to school. You were later than yesterday, but still managed to be in first period on time again. The first few classes passed by in a blur, more tedious and boring now that you had a set goal to complete. Really, all they were doing was getting in the way.

After the classes let out, you made it your mission to talk to Brick Flagg away from the nefarious influence of Bonnie Rockwaller to have a serious talk with him about the dangers of Vampires. And wow, you never thought you'd have said a sentence like that ever before today. Heh, it almost sounded like the something out of the Fearless Ferret, actually. However, as the day wore on you found yourself met with little success in you efforts. No matter how hard you tried, Brick was always around one of the popular food-chain types. It was near the end of the day, when you'd almost given up, that you had your opportunity.

You were washing up in the school bathroom after 5th period had ended when the sound of the door opening to your right grabbed your attention. To your luck, in walked your target, probably about to do whatever business he was here for. You slowed down a bit, taking your time to make sure your hands were extra clean. After a few more seconds, you heard the sound of a second faucet running. You checked to make sure that it was, in fact, Brick.

"Hey Brick."

The large student seemed bewildered that you were talking to him, before responding.

"Hey John."

You know you'd thought you'd gotten used to people messing up your name, yet you couldn't help but feel a flare of annoyance run through you. Was one syllable really so hard to remember?

"... Ron." You muttered softly to yourself, though not quietly enough as the blonde jock's frown indicated.

"Sorry, I don't really talk to you much." Fair enough, you guessed. It's not like you shared any classes with him, anyway.

"Well, I was wondering if you could help me out with something. Its kind of important, at least to me." Here it was: the moment of truth.

"What do you mean?" He seemed confused, but not outright dismissive like you feared was the worst case scenario.

"Well, I kind of need someone to help me go hunt a vampire. I was wondering if you were free this Sunday if you wanted to help out..."

Brick looked at you, his face almost incredulous, shrugging his shoulders and giving you a weak smile.

"Sure. I don't really have much to do this weekend anyway. If you want help, you've got it."

Huh, you thought he would have put up more resistance than that. Cool. The two of you walked back to classes, but not after talking a little bit about what to do next. It looked like you now had two people on board with your whole plan.

As you walked home this night, you started to think about who you would attempt to recruit tomorrow. Brick said that if you really wanted to, he could get you in contact with some of the more popular people if you wanted him to.

 **Rufus and Brick Flagg have joined the Hunt**

 **Choose one:**

[X] Tara: She's a pretty badical girl, and one of the only friendly cheerleaders in the school. Sure, she might not believe in what you're telling, but she'd likely humor you anyway because that's just the way she does things. She is a skilled acrobat, and a charismatic enough person besides that. The issue of conflicting schedules will probably come up again, though.

Barkin's note: She'd probably say yes if you ask her, and she would come with a lot of skills. You will run the risk of putting her in danger if she chooses to accept. Keep that in mind.


	4. Prelude 4- The Cheerleader

On the way home, you went over the potential allies you could attempt to recruit tomorrow. You'd already started to assemble a good team with Mr. Barkin and Brick but you knew that they were still lacking in some of the more important areas. They would work well in any situation that required the three of you to go beat something up, but you couldn't really go very far beyond that. With that in mind, your thoughts drifted towards the people that you'd mentally listed as worth recruiting and tried to figure out if you could use them in a less combat focused position. Sure, getting another good fighter would be a great addition to the team, being able to fight the Vampire was your end-goal after all, but right now you just couldn't see the group doing anything beyond that.

You needed people who could track the creep, to follow him down and figure out where he lived. You needed people smart or charming enough to gather information on him rather than just hoping that you hit the right target. You didn't expect miracles, but even a single person who could carry that out effectively would go a long way.

Kim had all of her contacts and allies from the people you'd both helped save during the missions that you went on. She was also the top of her class and right next to Bonnie on the food chain. However, you weren't totally sure that calling in people would be a good thing. Sure, you'd done it before for dumber things- you'd certainly burned quite a few when you managed to get that totally badical hair with Le Goop from flying to Paris so often- but this was different. Kim wanting a ride to go fight off doctor Drakken was normal; Kim asking for help moving five people to somewhere she doesn't want to talk about much wouldn't end well. Heck, if she asked you to do that you'd be running away as fast as you could; the situation screamed bad road. So, swallowing the guilt in your core, you ruled her out from the pool once more.

God, keeping this secret from Kim sucked even if it was for the best.

You could go to Monique, though. She was pretty smart, and a huge social butterfly too. She was totally cool, and you got along with her pretty well ever since you discovered she liked wrestling too (even if she was a fan of the Pain King). Then again, you still weren't sure exactly how to spin the story to her in a believable way that would get her to sign on. You were doing well here, and you didn't want to take a risk with her just yet. It was tempting, but trying to get her wasn't really worth the risk right now in your opinion.

You were still uncomfortable with the idea of recruiting someone only thinly connected to you to be put into danger. The concern rang no more true than with Tara, though a more practical part of your brain couldn't help but understand how useful she'd be in more social areas. She got along with everyone fairly well, she was even one of the few people Bonnie considered a genuine friend, and always seemed to confront everything with the most positive attitude possible. Then again, you really didn't want hurt someone so nice. The entire idea just seemed kind of sick and wrong to you, so she was out of the options.

On the other hand, Josh Mankey was just as good as her around people if Kim being reduced to a drooling idiot around him was any indication. Then again, that was kind of why you hated the guy's guts and if you wanted to work with him to kill monsters you weren't really sure how that would affect things. You certainly didn't want to do something stupid just because he was the one being affected by it. Maybe you'd change your mind later, but right now he just didn't seem like a viable option right now.

Bonnie was just... yeah, no. You weren't even going to entertain the thoughts of how talking to her would go. You could only take being looked down on by the Queen Bee of Middleton High School so much, and you weren't going to actively force that upon yourself. Sure, she was pretty useful in a lot of areas, you'd even grudgingly go to admit that she's probably the only person even close to KP in her skills, but if that meant putting up with her attitude for an extended period of time then you had better things to do. It was nice of Brick to suggest getting the two of you to talk about that, but you just couldn't see it happening for a while if at all.

The D-Hall crew was ruled out simply because you couldn't see them being any more than the outcasts of school. They just weren't the guys you wanted to go to for talking to other people without giving their target the urge to punch something. That just didn't seem like a smart move, and that got them put off of the list.

Of course, that meant you ruled out everyone. Stuff like that did leave you without any options for obvious reasons. As you went to bed, you found yourself occupied with trying to figure out some solution to this problem. After a few minutes of attempting to solve this, you found yourself falling asleep.

The noise of your alarm clock shook you out of that, and you found your thoughts returning to the subject you had been focusing on before you rested. Unfortunately, you still found yourself no closer to the solution as you approached the School to get to first period. You still didn't feel like you co-

It was then that the answer hit you. Well, more accurately, it drove past you.

Pretty much everyone in High School had their driver's license if they could get it. Kim had gotten hers months ago, and you hadn't been far behind (though the clerk at the DMV just _had_ to take the photo the moment you blinked). If you wanted to go hunt that Vampire though, you need someone who could do the driving for the whole group. It wasn't a big role, one that could be covered by someone who did things elsewhere most of the time, but it was necessary. You needed someone to get you there and back, not to mention pulling everyone out if things went weird.

Luckily, out of all the candidates one of them did drive a (slightly battered) van everywhere.

It was with some reluctance then that you decide to approach Tara about joining the group. Of course, trying to talk to her was the big problem. Just like with Brick, she was agreeable enough but it relied on her being away from Bonnie for any of this to work. In the end, it took less time to get to her than it did Brick. You'd been trying to approach her in between classes, to get her attention somehow. Yet every time you'd tried to get near her in those periods, you found Bonnie nearby with a narrowed glare and insult on the tip of her tongue.

It was during lunchtime that you'd finally caught a break. As you went up to get a plate of food from the cafeteria you felt the presence of someone walking to your left. You looked over to see Tara keeping her pace alongside you, smiling a little bit like she always seemed to do.

"Hey Ron, I noticed you wanted to talk to me?" You were grateful that she was able to understand your intent, rather than just assuming you were being normal, creepy Ron that everyone else seemed to think you were. The two of you continued, picking up the trays to get whatever it was that was being served today.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you were free this weekend."

"Sure I am, Ron! Where do you want to meet up?" You felt guilty as Tara's smile widened. Everyone else must have been doing something if she was so happy to hang out with you of all people. Then again, maybe she just understood that everyone needed a bit of Ronshine in their lives?

It seemed wrong to involve her in something so dangerous, but you'd already gone halfway. You might as well go for it.

"In front of the school on Sunday Morning. The rest of the group should be there around then."

"Okay then!" She chirped, taking that as her cue to turn away from you, and go to the table of the populars.

The rest of the day was spent in relative peace, before you were given a few "extra pages" from Mr. Barkin in history, given that the teacher was sick again this month. As you started to determine who you'd go to next, a small thought came to the forefront of your mind.

Did you forget to tell Tara about the whole Vampire thing?

 **Tara King joins the Hunt?**

 **Choose one:**  
[X] Bonnie Rockwaller: Okay, you'd really prefer _not_ to get her on your team if at all possible but then again beggars can't really be choosers. The two of you get along like cats and dogs but she is without a doubt one of the few people you would consider even near Kim and yourself. It would probably take having Brick open the conversation, but getting her on your side could do a lot of good. If she didn't just tune you out when you approached her.

Barkin's note: Are you sure you want to approach her, Stoppable? I've seen the two of you when together, and you seem to get along like oil and water. She may be the second most qualified person you could get, but her attitude is... well, it's not great.


	5. Prelude 5- The Queen Bee

That night, you went to sleep after a suitable amount of snackage and gaming time with Rufus. The question of who to go for next weighed on you mind, but Thursday night was game night. Not even Vampires could damage the sanctity of game night in the house, not if Ron Stoppable had anything to say about it. What followed was no more than the inevitable destruction you tended to face at the claws of the hairless mole rat, whose combos in Alley Brawl were only matched by his killstreaks in Call to Conflict. A night to relaxation and relative peace after everything that had happened helped put everything into perspective, in a way.

You were hunting down a Vampire, and in the end you weren't sure what that meant. You'd been putting more effort into this than you had... well, pretty much anything really, for quite a while. You just didn't want to see someone innocent get hurt because no one else would act. And... that was it. Maybe it was just being around Kim so long that helped you decide that, it was what she would do after all, but a small part of you wanted to think that it was simply something deep within you that you'd always had. Some core of a hero in the body of a sidekick. As you watched another one of the lesser players getting crushed by Rufus over the internet, you couldn't help but feel another pang of guilt.

For all your talk of being a hero, you certainly brought a lot of people in on this whole thing, didn't you? Rufus, Mr. Barkin, Brick and Tara. You'd let them in, and you'd protect them all.

But for the moment, you would just enjoy the night. After a few hours of virtual destruction, you found yourself passing out into the glorious comfort of your bed.

The next morning, you walked to school with a pep to your step and a whistled tune coming from your mouth. As you continued on your path, once again fashionably late to first period, you thought about who to go recruit next.

Once again, you thought about going to Kim but even now you felt your smile fading at the either part of the notion. Your group was starting to form, and you just weren't sure you wanted to involve Kim in it, at this point. In the end, it would just have been one more thing for her to put on her schedule of studying, training and fighting bad guys. Heck, you only did the last of those and it took up more time than anything else you'd really done. Perhaps she was still worth it, on top of everything, but you just didn't feel like going to her today. Maybe you'd give it a chance tomorrow, when you would be able to get some good one on one time over the weekend. Even now, you shoved down the growing feeling of unease as you wrote her off once more from the list on who to recruit today.

After her was Monique, and once again you couldn't help but consider her a good prospect to get. She was still skilled in areas that you lacked, yet even now you still didn't really consider that going to her simply from the fact that you were afraid you'd fail. Having one less person on your team because you'd screwed up today just didn't appeal to you. A part in the back of your mind said that you couldn't keep putting things off, but you shoved that sentiment down. Maybe later, whenever later would be.

The list once again continued to Mankey, and you still couldn't see a way for you to get over the hangups you personally held for him. Perhaps once you'd gotten yourself more established, you'd be able to stomach going to him? But for now, he was also a no-go.

You'd still rather listen to Mr. Barkin running his nails against a chalkboard while lecturing you on algebra than attempt to confront Bonnie. You weren't going to do that unless you really needed to.

The D-Hall crew was stuck in the limbo of being easy to convince, but not really pretty useful. Sure, they'd follow you but if they continued to be the screw-ups you'd remembered them as, then there really wasn't much reason to get them at this moment.

And once again, that left you with everyone ruled out. However, you knew you'd figure it out by the end of the day, you always managed to find some solution. You wouldn't just give up like that, it would be betraying the inherent principle of your Ron-ness. So you continued mulling over the options as the periods flew by, passively tuning out the drone of teachers and students in favor of you own mental monologue. It wasn't the first time you'd done this, in fact you'd managed to get very good at ignoring things that didn't concern you when you really needed to concentrate. Except for Kim, of course (though in a way she did concern him). You always kept an eye out for her. Everything else was just unimportant, though. It was how you managed to ignore Bonnie's insults, after all.

Which is probably why you didn't notice her until you were being dragged by the collar away from the Cafeteria you'd been heading towards. Even now, you could only feebly grasp towards the open doors as you found yourself being thrown into the janitor's closet. With a quick move, your chest was against the wall with one of her arms pinning you while the other held some sort of weapon to your throat.

"Loser. We need to talk."

"I could tell, Bon-Bon." At that nick-name you knew she hated, whatever weapon she had against you came closer to your neck, to the point where you could feel the little points on what you could only assume was it's tip. It felt weird, almost like a very dull-

"Bonnie, are you really threatening me with a butter knife from the cafeteria?" You could see the cheerleader rolling her eyes at that, before pressing it down as hard as she could on your neck.

"Don't let that stop you from trying anything dumb, loser. Now, what did you talk to Tara about yesterday?"

Oh, that.

"Nothing important, Bonn-" You could almost hear her scoff at that.

"That's a lie, loser. Now, she seemed pretty happy yesterday. I don't know why she would be from talking to you, but I'd like to know what it was that left her like that."

"Well, I asked her if she was free this weekend, and asked if she wanted to hang out."

"She wasn't. We had our monthly Club Banana visit on Sunday, and today I learned she's had to cancel for some reason." Her voice had descended to a low growl as she spat out the sentence, and you could almost feel the malice

"...Sorry?" Really, it's not like you knew that she had plans with Bonnie, though getting away from Bonnie probably helped to explain why Tara was so overjoyed when you asked.

"You should be. Now, if you hurt her on your date I will personally come over and cas-"

"Uhh, what date?" Seriously, why did Bonnie think someone as awesome as Tara would want to date you of all people?

You could almost swear people in the hallways could hear the sigh she let out at that, before you found yourself slammed against the wall twice as hard as before.

"Well then, loser, if you weren't asking her out what exactly were you planning?"

Well then. You know, you'd initially meant to figure out who to go for soon but even you could tell this was an opportunity.

It wouldn't hurt to try, right?

"I kind of want her to help me out with, uhhh, hunting vampires." Okay, you'd screwed that up and from the look Bonnie was giving you she seemed incredibly unamused at your mumbling.

"Could you say it so I can actually hear you, maybe?" Yeah, she wasn't happy.

"She's going to help me hunt a vampire." Bonnie closed her eyes as if that very sentence caused her physical pain from exasperation, before looking back to you.

"Okay, let's say I believe you. Tara seemed pretty happy to be doing that. Any reason?"

Oh yeah. _That._

"Well, I, uhh, may not have, completely by accident mind you, remembered to, err, tell her about the whole Vampire thing. Totally understandable, right?" Finally, Bonnie removed herself from her position practically on top of you to what was probably the deepest facepalm you'd seen in quite a while.

"Typical. So, the two of you are just going to go do that on Sunday, then? With only one of you knowing what you're actually getting into?" Okay, so when you put it that way, it did sound really dumb, but you weren't that idiotic.

"No, it's not just the two of us. Brick and Mr. Barkin are going to help."

"So it's not just the two of you?"

"No." Yeah, that would be stupid.

"Good, where are you meeting?"

"Here."

"Great, I'm going to be there. Later, loser." And then she was gone, having moved from the clos-

"Oh, and since you missed lunch, here." You felt something soggy hit your face before the sound of shoes clinking on the floor marked her complete exit. You looked down as the item to find a peanut butter and jelly sandwich laying in your hands. You felt like you should have been insulted, but you'd honestly had worse before. And Bonnie was on your team.

So, mission accomplished?

 **Bonnie Rockwaller has joined the hunt.**

The rest of your day passed without incident, while you tried to ignore the strange gazes some of your classmates were giving you the whole time. It was nothing new, but normally you'd actually done something to earn this. You honestly weren't sure why they were so focused on you, and were happy to hear the bell as school ended.

You found yourself running back home for the first time in a long time, only slowing down once you'd noticed the car parked in the driveway.

Looks like mom and dad were home from their recent trip.

You entered a bit more carefully than you normally had, in case you might accidentally hit either of them with the door, before settling down in the living room. You father was sitting in his chair, sipping some coffee while catching up on the local new with the sections you usually left for him while he was away.

Given that they were actually home for once, you gave a quick call to Kim and offered to invite her over for a meal with your family. You'd been given a regretful no, before having the phone hung up on you. You could really only shrug at that; it was her loss.

Your mother called down a few minutes later. You looked at the dish she'd prepared, trying to tell the place they'd visited this time. Apparently it was Italy, if the finely made chicken alfredo with a bit of home-made cannoli was any indication. You could feel your mouth watering from here at the sight.

She was the one who taught you how to cook, after all. You spent the meal talking and catching up on everything that had happened during their trip like you always had. It was nice to see the pictures your dad managed to get over the time there, and in turn you told them about how school was going over the past week.

Well, leaving out the vampire bits, of course. After that, you had a fun time playing a few games of trivial pursuit before ending the night with a match of clue. You'd thought about suggesting playing Monopoly once again, but then again you remembered the last time you got utterly destroyed by your accountant of a father. Instead you allowed yourself to fall asleep early, hoping to get a bit more shuteye than normal.

You awoke next morning to the sharp trill of your communicator, and a few seconds later your bleary face was confronted with the sharp LED screen portraying Wade's face.

"Hey Ron, looks like a research company in Texas called about a possible robbery by Shego happening today. I've already got a chopper on the way."

Okay, that timing was just terrible. Firstly, you were asleep and secondly, you had stuff to do today.

Then again, it was a mission. One that involved Shego stealing stuff so it was probably doomed from the start, but still something you'd sworn to do.

Of course, you could probably lie your way out of it... no matter how distasteful that sounded.

 **Should you go on the mission?**

[X] Yes, it was your big obligation, after all.


	6. Prelude 6- A Normal Mission

"I'll be there soon, Wade. Just give me a second to get some clothes on."

There wasn't even really a doubt in your mind beyond the idle thought that suggested you wouldn't on the mission with Kim. She was your best friend and helping her out was your number one obligation. Sure, you'd lose in the end. That was just how things were with these sorts of missions, but if being there could stop Kim from even a fraction more harm than she might have gone through without you it would be worth it.

Even then, you made a promise. You were hesitant to break it when you'd already managed to gather a decent amount of people to help you out. You hopped your way down the stairs, trying your best not to fall down them while putting on the black turtleneck that you always used for missions. When you hit the first floor, you quickly grabbed a yogurt in the fridge before rushing out of the door towards Kim's house before promptly turning back once your accidentally bare feet hit the rough gravel. Slipping on your shoes a hastily as you could, you resumed your run through the pavement towards the Possible home.

Surely enough, there was a helicopter waiting there right above Kim's house. As you neared, you could make out the shape of a rope ladder hanging below it. If the thing hadn't landed to get you guys, it must have meant this time things were really serious. Once you got there, you climbed the rungs as fast as you could with one hang (the other still carried your precious breakfast) until you reached the inside of the vehicle. As you flopped down onto the nearest seat, yogurt held victoriously in the air, you heard a small giggle from where Kim had chosen to sit down.

"Happy to have remembered Breakfast this morning, Ron?"

Oh come on! That was only on- twice that you'd forgotten to eat something before you went on a mission. Sure, the second time the stomach rumbling gave away your position but that was one time.

"I'll have you know Kim that I am proud of remembering to get something and will enjoy this yogurt under the knowledge that, just this once, Ron Stoppable got everything right." With a smirk of triumph, you peeled back the thin foil lid of the awaiting yogurty goodness, taking your time to slowly lick off the sweet little bits that stuck on it. After crumpling that and throwing it into a trash bin the pilot had, your hand entered the left pocket to go get the spoon you brought. Only to find nothing. Taking your hand out, you searched the left pocket in vain for the plastic utensil set your mother had got for you when she learned about the missions you went one. Giving Kim a nervous smile, you patted down the back pockets of your cargo pants, hoping against everything that you'd actually tried to use them for once.

"Forget your spoon, Ron?"

And now Kim was trying to stifle her giggles at your accidental failure. It was no big, but you still couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. You'd gotten so close to getting it right and you just forgot the final step. With a sigh, you resigned yourself to the old "crush the cup method" of yogurt delivery when a small sound from the cockpit got your attention.

The pilot had one hand held behind his back, and in it was a plastic spoon. With a look of gratitude, you seized the utensil with a grateful nod. Newly-acquired spoon in hand, you dove into the creamy breakfast you'd tasted, enjoying the pleasant surprise of the cherry flavor entering your mouth. It was good, better than the weird flavors your dad would sometimes get at the supermarket.

You'd hoped you'd never taste black licorice yogurt ever again..

The ride continued in silence as you devoured the small breakfast, and for a short while afterward. The rides, even when they were on stuff like supersonic jets or similar vehicles tended to take a long time. After a little more silence, Kim decided to initiate a conversation with an uncomfortably sly grin plastered across her face.

"Soo, how's Bonnie doing, Ron?"

Uhh, what? You didn't think anyone knew about what you talked about there! Bonnie even went out of her way to isolate the two of you so people wouldn't hear. You stared at Kim for a few seconds, the confused/astounded look on your face showing before she continued.

"I mean, its good but _Bonnie_? Really? You could do way better than her, Ron."

Sure, Bonnie wasn't the great to be around but she was a good cheerleader. There wasn't really much higher you could go to when asking for help.

"And not to mention skipping lunch to make out with her! I was worried!"

….

….

What.

No, no you must have heard her wrong. Kim wouldn't have suggested that you and Bonnie... together. Urgh, the very idea was just sick and wrong on so many levels.

"What, Kim?"

She gave you a sympathetic look, probably registering the utterly flabbergasted look before starting again.

"I mean, I know that a lot of people seem to think that you aren't dating material but I'm glad someone saw the good in you. Even if it is Bonnie."

She really meant that. She thought you were dating _Bonnie Rockwaller_ of all people. Queen Bee, highest on the food chain and eternal archnemesis of a certain loser! Sure, she was working with you right now but that was because she threatened you in a locked closet! The entire thought itself was preposterous, it'd be as ridiculous as Kim suddenly announcing she was dating Shego. It just wouldn't happen in any sane world.

Faintly, you could hear as small noise. Dazed as you were by the thought of dating Bonnie, you couldn't help but focus on the sound as it grew louder. After a few seconds, you realized it was Rufus snapping his tiny fingers near your face. Huh, you didn't think you were that out of it. Turning to Kim, you gave the most direct reply you could.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Wow, you didn't mean to yell that. After flinching a tiny bit from your outburst Kim shifted back to a more comfortable position in the vehicle's seat.

"... Okay, I guess I was mistaken. So what did she drag you into a closet to do?"

Okay, you couldn't talk about the hunting stuff. Not when you were on a mission. The last thing you wanted to do was distract Kim by giving her more on her plate right now. Then again, you just didn't feel like lying about something like this. Looks like a half-truth would be the way to go.

"She just wanted to threaten me Kim, it's no big."

The look she gave you was almost scary, really. Sure, getting threatened was bad but you didn't think that it was worth her doom glare. It just didn't seem like a big deal when you'd regularly been held up for your lunch money up until freshman year.

Then again, they did stop after Kim happened upon the two guys and had a "serious chat" with them. With the stare she was throwing, you think she might have wanted to do the same to Bonnie. Had it been any other week, you would have been perfectly fine with that. Not now, unfortunately. She opened her mouth to say something at the same time you did. Before either of you could utter a word though, the helicopter rumbled as it started to near the ground. As the vehicle finally touched the earth, Kim began to exit but not before making it clear that the two of you would talk about the issue on the way back.

Well, out of the frying pan and into the plasma-fire. Following her lead as usual, you climbed out of the machine, though not before giving the pilot a thumbs up for his badical bit of help with the yogurt. Maybe you'd talk to Kim about trying to work with him a bit more. Of course, with your face turned towards the man, you didn't see the little gap in the floor you were supposed to step over.

As you hand spiraled to the ground, you could only conclude that it was going to be one of _those_ missions.

After you managed to recover from the embarrassing spill you moved right next to Kim. Though she did give you a sympathetic smile, she was already busy talking with a man in a white lab coat to comment on your misfortune. As the two continued to talk about the object the two of you had been called in to protect, a rare gem of some kind that had been transported here to be used for a laser of some sort. Honestly, once you got the basics of the situation you just tuned him out and started to scan the environment. Kim would sweat the details, and you'd look out for weirdness.

The lab itself was rather nice, actually. Most places you'd been called to protect had very little to see beyond the occasional landscape painting or motivational poster on a sterile white wall. Such was probably the function of top secret bases. This lab wasn't really much different, but it seemed one of the staff cared enough about appearances to have brought some plants into the building. There was a mall bed of flowers centered around a large skylight that practically screamed point of entrance for someone like Shego. The man led the two of you further in, down a sparse hallway you were used to before coming upon what looked to be an office. If you had to guess, it was either where the person who ran the place was, or where the gem was kept. It could also be both, though. The man who guided you through there moved aside a picture of some building to reveal a safe in the wall. He put in the combination, but at that point you were more occupied picking out all of the little things you'd seen before in movies. So far you had the skylight, the safe hidden behind a picture carrying the item, you wouldn't doubt that the place probably even had a security system of lasers that could alert the police about a break in after it was too late and needlessly loud alarm sirens too. Oh, and air vents that were way too big to be practical for anything but letting people get through.

You'd seen way too many of these places to believe otherwise. The man finished, and sat back down. Kim turned to leave the room. After the two of you got out of the stuffy little office, you turned to her, waiting for her to give you the sitch.

"So, he just wants us to stand here and guard the room until professionals come to take the diamond. I guess that shouldn't be too hard, right?" She gave you a weak smile, before showing what you both knew but were unwilling to admit. You'd been through thick and thing with Kim here, and each of you understood it well enough that the two of you would die of boredom before anything of note happened on a mission like this. Even worse, there was even a chance that the Shego alert was false, and neither of you would be able to do anything other than act as if everything was perfectly fine.

This was going to suck.

 **some time later**

"So, when exactly are the people who'll pick up the gem going to get here, Kim?" The two of you had been just standing in that one position for what seemed like hours, simply trying you best to keep alert despite everything else. The boredom ground you down bit by little bit as the clock wore on, destroying you as eve-

"They'll probably be here within an hour or two like the director said, Ron. It's only been ten minutes."

Yeah, you hated being put on guard duty.

"Well I hope they get here sooner rather than later. I'd like to get back home."

"I know this is going to be really boring Ron, but this is what we do. You can't have excitement all the time, even if you're a hero." Yeah, and you understood that. Heck, you shuddered a bit at the images of the body you'd found only five days ago baring through you mind, showing you why having crazy things happening was not always good.

It didn't change the fact that you hated just standing around, though.

"So Kim, what do you think Drakken wants to make this time? I mean, its always something crazy but do you have any ideas?"

"I don't know Ron, maybe something like the laser they plan to use here to melt into something."

"I'd bet money he just wants to get into another safe, and thought this was the best way to go about it."

"That does sound needlessly complicated and convoluted enough to be something he'd come up with. However the Sidekick is wrong." The all too familiar voice came from the room you were supposed to be protecting. With a crackle, Shego's plasma encased hands ripped through the fragile frame of the doorway. At the very sound of the attack, Kim had rolled to the side much like you did. Looking back towards your enemy, you saw the Green clad figure of Shego in a wide stance, both hands glowing with neon green energy.

"What? Have you decided to skip the inevitable thrashing and hand yourself in?" Not one to be dissuaded by the threatening posture, immediately leaped forward, trying to stop the criminal with a swift kick.

"Not a chance, Princess. I just got sick of climbing through those stupid air ducts. Beating you up is just my way to de-stress." Hah! You couldn't help but give a little chuckle at that as she quickly sidestepped the blow, aiming to counter with a blast of her own; however her outstretched claws met nothing but air as Kim smoothly ducked under the incoming attack.

As the combat continued, you took the opportunity to check the room, hoping on the small chance that Shego got impatient and decided not to grab the item like she was hired to. The melted metal carcass of the safe combined with the prone for of the director on the ground put that idea to rest easily.

Behind you, Kim gracefully avoided the glowing claws of Shego's hands as the mercenary did her best to rend through her nemesis. With a small roll, Kim attempted to throw another kick at her enemy, only to have her mission boot passing harmlessly to the side as Shego dove away. It was then that you glimpsed a small bag looped around her belt, likely containing the jewel. It went back out of sight as she spun through a punch Kim threw towards villainess' face, deflecting the force of her attack and using the momentum to throw Kim against a wall.

"So it looks like you were right, Kimmie. This beating was bound to happen." Disoriented as your best friend was by the wall slam, Shego took the opportunity to pin her enemy and get in position to deliver a plethora of brutal blows.

You'd wanted to go protect Kim, but you weren't stupid enough to put yourself in the middle of a fight between the two. It was then that you had an idea.

You knew the battle was lost, and you knew that Shego would get away with the gem. The best thing you could do was stop her from hurting Kim any more. The only way to do that was to somehow distr-

Wait, all your other guesses had been right. If the trend held, that meant there was one thing you could do. Running into the room, you searched for something that would alert the guards at the facility. Rufus crawled out from the pocket he was in, dashing toward the man's desk for anything. A triumphant squeal indicated that he had found what he was looking for, and with the press of a red button you final guess was proven correct.

The alarm sirens were _waaay_ too loud if people wanted to catch thieves. The first roaring drone was enough to startle Shego, who responded by gracelessly dropping Kim and running away to complete her actual objective.

As the guards pursued the green thief, Kim got up. Her hands were gingerly cupping a bloody nose, attempting to keep it from getting any worse. It was probably broken, but that was nothing Mrs. Dr. Possible couldn't solve. Setting the cartilage would hurt, but it was probably the one operation she did most around you guys.

If only from all the times you landed flat on your face before.

The rest of the mission was concluded shortly afterward. You preoccupied yourself with getting some TP from a bathroom to give Kim something else to stop the bleeding. As you walked back in, you saw her getting congratulated by the director for her quick thinking with the alarm (seriously, does no one notice you!) before thanking you for helping. With a weak smile, Kim apologized for the problem and promised to get the gem back when they found it while trying to gingerly plug her nose with the paper you provided before leaving. Wade already had another transport ready to bring you guys home as you exited the building.

The ride back was spent in silence. You knew Kim wanted to talk about the whole Bonnie threatening you sitch, but didn't want to make her own mood worse at the failed mission. The whole time was spent as Kim replaced the little pieces of paper each time. When the vehicle finally settled down in front of the Possible house, Kim was immediately dragged away by her mother, who had the patented "For anything Possible" first aid kit. She gave you a smile before going off to set the nose in place and talk to Kim about the mission while she worked. With that, you decided to walk home and take the rest of the day to yourself.

You had something important to do tomorrow, after all.


	7. Prelude Final- The First Meeting

You woke up Sunday morning with a strange mix of feelings. You were terrified about what would go down in the meeting. About half of the populars were going to be in the same room as you without Kim to help you. Heck, you'd even invited Mr. Barkin of all people to this thing even though the two of you were like oil and water. You weren't sure what would happen, much less that they'd do anything more than laugh you out of the building for saying such crazy things. After all, who'd believe the loser who told tall tales all the time, right? It hurt to think of things like that but you weren't one to deny reality.

One the other hand, part of you was excited beyond what you even thought possible. You wanted to tell someone, anyone about what happened and to be taken seriously. You knew you couldn't do this alone, and you hoped they'd believe so you wouldn't have to. Luckily, Mr. Barkin at the very least seemed to take your claim at face value for once, which was strange in and of itself really but you weren't going to look that gift horse in the mouth too hard if it meant he was going to work with you for sure.

The morning itself was kind of dreary. Clouds covered the sky, shielding the world from the sun as you prepared to get dressed. You thought about what to wear for a while, before deciding on using the spare pair of mission clothes you had. You hoped that if you dressed as if this was a serious matter, the group would understand that. Not to mention that it was kind of cold out and the turtleneck was toasty for mid-October when with a jacket. After you got that finished, you made some toast with jelly to tide you over.

It didn't take long for your scooter to get you to school, and as you parked it, you noticed that there were a couple different cars in the mostly empty lot. Mister B's old beater was there, but so was an expensive convertible you'd seen Brick tooling around in, as well as a well cared for minivan Tara had taken to cheer practice once or twice. Bonnie must have hitched a ride, because you couldn't believe that she'd miss this after the rant she'd hit you with on Thursday.

You found them in Homeroom. Bonnie, Brick, and Tara were sitting together in their usual seats, their faces a mixture of bored and confused. Mister B sat at his desk, holding a full manilla folder.

"Stoppable," he said loudly, "Glad you could finally join us!"

He gestured at the empty classroom, "Take a seat. I've prepared a briefing."

That got him some odd looks from the populars you'd recruited. You weren't really sure what that meant yourself. You knew that Mr B talked a lot about his time in the armed forces, but he was never really ...specific about it. You didn't even know what branch he'd served in, though whether that was because he hadn't said or you hadn't bothered to pay attention was beyond you. Still, he seemed to have... something planned, which was more than you did right then. You took a seat as he moved to the overhead projector at the back of the classroom.

As Mister B flicked the machine on, he started talking, "Alright people, you're all here because Stoppable thinks you've got what it takes." He looked over the room, eyeing each of you in turn. "I'm not so sure, but you didn't run screaming or think he was lying so that's a point or two in your favor."

Reaching into his folder he took out the first slide, and an image of the alley that was still giving you nightmares a week later shone onto the board.

"This is the last known location of our target. If you think that chalk outline looks strange, then you're right. That is because the thing we are hunting is a Vampire."

He took off that transparency and replaced it with another, a picture you'd never seen before. It was horrible! It was gnarled and twisted, with great big pointy teeth! Rufus' chompers had nothing on this freak! It was ugly as sin! It was... not at all what you'd seen in the alley? Granted, you hadn't gotten a good look at the thing, but you didn't remember it looking anywhere near as obviously inhuman as Mister B's.

As you blinked in sudden confusion, you took a moment to see how the rest of the room was reacting. It was sorta a mixed bag. Brick looked serious for once, his eyes had narrowed and he was staring at the board with what looked an impressive amount of anger on his face. Tara looked seriously freaked. Come to think of it you hadn't ever actually told her about the whole Vampire thing had you? Bonnie though, she just looked skeptical.

She turned her head sharply to look at Mister B, "Yeah, vampires exist. Just like foundation goes great with water. Who'd you get to stage this picture? The same one who got the shots of that 'Yeti' during the ski trip?""

"Well then, Miss Rockweiler, why don't you point out all of the things that show this picture was faked," Mister B said, "It should be easy for you since vampires don't exist." Bonnie stared at the picture projected on the wall for a minute, but didn't say anything.

"Having trouble?" Mister B asked, "Here, I'll make it a bit easier for you. This one's trying to look human." He took off the slide of the creepy thing that should not be and replaced it with a different one. It was still wrong. It looked human, but it... it wasn't. There was just something about it, eyes too far apart, nose not quite the right shape, it was like whatever it was knew what a human was supposed to look like, but couldn't quite manage to copy it.

You sat there, as the silence grew, and solidified. Bonnie couldn't come up with anything, and you could see the frustration growing on her face. This new thing was almost as bad as the last, just in a totally different way. Well... it still wasn't a MONKEY though...

"Now then," said Mister B, "If we're done arguing? These are vampires. This picture is of one that's trying to hide what it is. It's not particularly good at it, as you can see that something isn't right. Unfortunately, some of them are indistinguishable from a normal human. They aren't all Nosferatu."

He switched back to the picture of the crime scene. "Now, the first thing you have to be aware of is that regardless of their appearance Vampires eat humans. We are their FOOD. A lot of them try and disguise that, dress it up, or otherwise make it look like they're 'misunderstood.' THEY ARE NOT! THEY ARE MONSTERS WHO WILL EAT YOU ALIVE!"

It wouldn't be Mister B if he didn't start yelling at some point. Still, while this is a great presentation and all, and you really want to know where he got his pics, you still need to know how to fight these monsters.

"Uh, Mister B?" you ask, "I get that this is a monster, heck, I saw it eat that poor person," and isn't that going to give you nightmares for the rest of your life, "but how do we fight it? What do we need to know to do that safely?"

"Alright, Stoppable," Mister B replies, before changing the slide again to a bullet pointed list, "Everyone knows what kills a Vampire. Fire, stake through the heart, yadda yadda. Extreme physical trauma works too, but unfortunately for us that's usually more trouble than it's worth."

The slide clicks over again.

"Beyond that, you should be concerned about enhanced physical abilities, like strength or stamina, as well as outright supernatural powers. Some Vampires can hypnotize you, some can shapeshift, and others have literal magic. We don't know WHAT this particular blood sucker can do, so we'll need to be careful."

He switches to a new slide, "Job one for something like this is Confirm. No one wants to be the guy who busts down the door of a really dedicated LARP group. I've done that before, and it was… unpleasant. However, since Stoppable came to me about this problem, I have taken the time to check and what you are dealing with is, in fact, a real vampire. Next, we need to figure out what exactly this thing is, where it's hiding, and deal with it, in that order. We can do that a few different ways, but I'm not the one who started this."

Mister B stops there and looks at you. It seems like everyone's looking at you. Bonnie's still not convinced, Brick's got a look of determination you don't think you've seen on him off the Football field, and Tara, well, Tara still looks majorly freaked, but she's also got something else in her eyes that looks familiar, like, Kim familiar.

"So, Stoppable," Mister Barkin asks, "What's the Plan? Please take note that I will be busy making sure this little club becomes a bit more official, so I won't be able to help you for the moment. Think of this as a sort of test for you. If things go wrong I'll help, but if they don't I'll be impressed."

 **Major category- Team Actions** As Mr. Barkin noted, spending every Sunday just talking about what you'd been doing each week would get boring quickly, not to mention that you all had time to do more constructive things in the morning. He has asked for your input on what the five of you should do together next week, given it will likely be the only time all of you can feasibly spend time in the same area together. (choose one below)

[X] **There's no I in Team.** You've got 4 people you've got almost nothing in common with, and you're going vampire hunting. It might behoove you to try and work out a bit of familiarity with your teammates. You've all got a connection to the Football Team, maybe you can leverage that? Spend some time working with your teammates to figure out how each of you tick.

 **Major category- Assignments:** Everyone has a role in here, and Mr. Barkin suggested that you assign people to where you think they'd fit the best in the hunting process. However, since he wants to see what you can do, he's not giving much in the way of advice. **(assign Bonnie, Brick, Tara and Ron to actions. Mr. Barkin is currently unavailable for anything but the hunt)**

 **Information gathering** [X] **Vampires.** Bloodsuckers, nightcrawlers and all around creeps, these are the species of enemy that you are currently hunting. You know the basics. They're strong, they're fast and they don't like stakes, sun or garlic (they probably hate pizza, too!). However, you don't really know much beyond that, and if what Mr. Barkin showed you was true there's a lot more to know about them. Now you just need to figure out where to turn.  
-[X] **Source: Mr. Barkin.** Okay, so he did intend for this to be a test of some sort but you know hunting monsters is very serious business. It'd take a bit for you to get him to crack, but if you did manage to get the information he has about them, you wouldn't need to stop and verify it. **Check: Social, Difficulty: Medium, Complexity: Direct.  
-[X] Bonnie  
-[X] **Source:**** The Internet. Not Wikipedia, of course, getting yelled at by your teachers that it wasn't a proper enough source stuck. Probably since it was Mr. Barkin doing that half the time. However, that doesn't mean you can't get good information on that stuff if you looked hard enough. It would require a bit of extra time to verify, though. Check: Mental, Difficulty: Easy, Complexity: Simple **  
-[X] ** **Ron******

[X] **To catch a (supernatural) predator.** You've got a man eating homicidal vampire. That's great! Where the heck does it live, and how can you figure that out?  
-[X] **Ask around.** Though it hasn't always been considered the most accurate way to get suspects, asking the people near the scene of the Crime about weird activity or people in the area. It will guarantee results, though someone will have to sift through all of the conflicting stories to get a real idea of what could actually work. Check: Social Difficulty: Easy, Complexity: Simple **  
-[X] Tara**

 **Preparation** **[X] **Stakes and Crosses and Cloves oh my!** ** You're hunting a vampire. Unless you want to do that with your bare hands, you're going to need equipment. Hit up anyone you can think of for appropriate Supernatural Hunting Gear. Well, beside going to the school's garden and ripping out as many garlic bulbs as you can. Check: Mental, Difficulty: Easy, Complexity: Direct **  
-[X] **Brick****  
 **Major category- Free time:** For a Vampire hunter in training, you still have a lot of needs to get through every day. Your daily cheese intake has even fallen below acceptable levels! Rufus is even turning a bit pale from the lack of delicious gooey goodness recently. Every man needs some time to themselves, and you do have a few ideas on how to spend it. (choose one)

[X] **You've got some 'splaining to do.** Okay, so you'd totally blanked on the whole "telling Tara about Vampires" thing. Which was probably why she was the most shocked out of all of you when that little bit of information was put into light. The only thing you could really do was apologize to her, and perhaps make sure that she was really ready for all of this.


	8. Week 2- Start of the Hunting Club!

So the first meeting between you all ended in the most normal way possible. You all exchanged contact information including phone numbers, addresses and emails that you could be reached at in case anything huge happened at any that, you gave people their basic tasks. Bonnie and yourself would work on gathering information about the enemy whatever way you found possible. Tara would start asking around the neighborhood on the subject of disappearances and strange activities at night to get some results. Brick would start gathering the requisite materials to actually hunt a vampire. Finally, and you sure enjoyed this, you ordered Mr. Barkin to start developing a list of teambuilding activities and little fun exercises for next week so you could begin working with each other rather than being members of a club. Knowing he was a teacher, it'd probably be something boring like trust falls or talking exercises but you were sure every little bit that you got to know the four people around you would help keep them alive.

Later that night, you thought to test out the numbers you were given by sending each one of your group's members at least one text. It was useful to see if you got that confirmed before anything else. You started with Mr. Barkin.

Ron: Thanks for helping set this up.

Mr. Barkin: No problem, Stoppable.

He was concise, though it did take him a strangely long time for the reply to get to you, but he was a busy man with the whole 'setting up the club' thing going on along with the other teacher stuff, you guessed. Next you shot one text to Bonnie, hoping to open some sort of dialogue between the two of you.

Ron: I forgot to say in the meeting, but I'd like like you to talk to Mr. Barkin about the Vampire. Maybe you could get something of substance?

You waited a bit for her response, but after you sat around for a good ten minutes you figured she was rightly mad at you for the whole "didn't tell your best friend about vampires" thing. It was understandable, really. After her lack of response you sent a message to Brick.

Ron: Hey, just checking to see if this is yours, Brick.

Brick: It is.

And you honestly didn't really expect much more. He was direct, and you could tell that his text was almost the closest thing he could get to a grunt without being offensive. After that, you sent another text to Bonnie, because maybe the first message you sent didn't get through.

Ron: Okay, so I just wanted to make sure that this is your phone, and that you got my message please reply.

After that, you put down Tara's number and thought about how to start this dialogue, especially with how hard you screwed up. After a few minutes of careful consideration, you finally settled on the greatest opener you could muster.

Ron: Hey.

Tara: Hi Ron.

The sound of a tiny palm hitting a small face gave enough indication of what Rufus thought of your admittedly terrible first message. Before you could respond with an apology your carelessness, the phone buzzed with a new message.

Tara: So… Vampires?

Ron: Yeah.

Tara: Scary, huh?

Okay, now you just felt guilty. It seemed like a good idea back then, you needed someone to drive and she was nice enough to say yes but you couldn't help but feel that you'd been scummy to her.

Tara: Wanna talk about it?

Nah, this wasn't something you could just do over the phone. If you wanted to apologize to her you were doing it right, just like your dad taught you to.

Ron: Sure, but let's do that later. How's Tuesday sound?

Tara: Cool! I'll met up with you after school's out.

And that was that, you sighed with relief that Tara was such a badical girl. You'd be able to talk this through and finally just lay that whole nest of guilt to rest. As you prepared to continue with your day you found your phone ringing.

Bonnie: K loser.

It looks like you could work with these people after all.

Unfortunately, you don't manage much. Between school, Bueno Nacho, and everything else you've got going on, you can only find the sort of things that everybody knows about Vampires, Stake through the heart, vulnerable to sunlight, feed on blood, that sort of thing. Still, it's better than nothing, and at least there aren't any curveballs. Yet. Okay, why the heck is Ron looking up Vampires? He does know they aren't real, right?  
Before you knew it, Monday had passed and Tuesday was right there along with your plan to meet Tara. Kim could tell that you'd had something on your mind throughout the day and even though she did attempt to needle you about the only response you'd give her were noncommittal noises and denials. No way were you starting another rumor related to you getting into a relationship with a popular, especially when people probably still thought you were somehow in a relationship with Bonnie! You'd probably be lynched on the spot by the entire student body. After all, no one could question the benefits of a daily dose of Ronshine.

The school day ended much more quickly than you usually thought it could, and after that you found yourself waiting in the library of your own free will for once in your life while Tara went through Cheerleading practice. While she was training, you found yourself on the internet once again, looking up anything you could about the bloodsucking fiends. Though you'd had some good leads, there was still so many wild claims and unsubstantiated rumors mixed in that you didn't really feel like you'd gotten much of anywhere.Ok, I know that Kim said it was no big that Ron was looking into this but he's really looking hard. Maybe I could help him?  
After the hour or so of turning up basically nothing, you heard the noise as cheerleading practice ended and decided to go meet with Tara. The ladies mostly greeted you with rolled eyes or dismissive grunts. Except for Kim, she gave you a wave and a smile. Soon enough you found who you were looking for. The Blonde Cheerleader was naturally sitting next to Bonnie, who greeted you with hostility though it was less pronounced than Sunday. After seeing you, her face lit up and she grabbed you by the arm before leading you out of the building. She took you to her car and started up the engine as you buckled into the passenger seat. As she prepared to pull out of the school's parking lot, she looked over to you.

"So, is there anywhere you want to go where we can talk?" You almost yelled Bueno Nacho at her, but stopped yourself. There was a time and a place to make the location decision yourself, and this was not it. You were apologizing to her, so it should be her choice. Besides, people knew you went there and they'd be watching if Bonnie hadn't killed those rumors yet.

"I'm not really feeling anything, pick wherever you want to go." It hurt to say that lie, but your integrity was worth more than the gooey goodness of nacos. Tara nodded at that as she shifted the gear into drive and pulled out onto the streets. She seemed to think about it for a few seconds, before making her decision.

"Nasty Burger it is then." At that, you couldn't help but stare at the petite blonde before you. You'd never actually been to one of the infamous food chains, nothing could ever beat the greatness that were tacos in you mind, but you'd heard enough about their reputation to question why any of the cheerleading squad would go there. You continued to stare at her in confusion as she drove along, humming a happy little tune as her focus remained squarely on the road ahead. Within a few minutes, you finally approached the diner-like building, and as Tara parked she finally noticed that your eyes were boring into her in confusion. At your obvious query, she simply shrugged.

"Hey, it's my cheat day and I wanted the double slaughterhouse bomb. You had your chance." The horror on you face must have been evident, since she chuckled a little at the name before dragging you in to order.

The double slaughterhouse bomb was apparently two cheeseburgers topped with bacon and was actually quite good now that you'd gotten one yourself. Of course, it had nothing on Mexican goodness, though the chili cheese fries were great. After you finished with that, you finally got to the real reason you were here.

"So, I forgot to tell you about the Vampire part of this when I invited you…" Well, there were better openers. Taking a moment to grab another cheese fry, Tara slowly nodded.

"Then I'd like to formally apologize. I messed up really bad and got you into something you might not have even wanted to think of if it wasn't already too late. That was super wrong and I really hope that you don't hate me for that." There wasn't really much to say beyond the truth. You bowed your head down as low as you could and prayed it was enough for her to forgive you.

"Ron," you looked up to see her smiling at you with a bit a cheese sauce on her cheeks, "it's okay. I was a little bit shocked when I heard it but with you and Mr Barkin here to help us I think that everything will be ok. It might even be fun, trying to be heroes like Kim and you!" You noticed the little hint of a frown that was on her face when she completed that sentence not matter how she tried to hold it back.

That was a way of looking at it, and one you didn't disagree with. To an extent, taking down these guys was like trying to defeat a supervillain. It was just that you lead the charge, not Kim. But she had faith in you, and you wouldn't let her down. She wasn't 100% okay with this yet, but you weren't sure anyone was. It was good enough that she'd try to handle it.

After that, you finished up the food and Tara dropped you off in front of your house. You didn't do much that night beside getting some proper fast food in you and watching a few reruns of Captain Constellation with your dad.

The rest of the week is pretty uneventful. You do your best to root out every shadowy corner of the internet looking for information. You're not Wade, but you think you do OK. The real tough part is figuring out whether or not anything you find is real. There's so much information out there, and you've got next to no way of determining what's a random jerk trying to impress the faceless hordes of the web and what's legitimate information on the supernatural. Okay, he really needs to start verifying links. I'll just check these out: kid in his apartment, goth wannabe, bad hacker, 4channer. This is honestly kind of boring.  
It's not easy, but you do figure some things out. Apparently there's a lot of different supernatural nasties out there, Werewolves, Vampires, and goodness only knows what else. You don't have time for that though, and focus on Vampires. As far as you can determine, there are a few different types of Vampires...aand now he's using TOR. I'm surprised he remembered how to get there much less listened to me during that speech. Let's just check in on who he's talking to a-  
Your best information comes from this group in the deep bowels of the internet, the places that Wade once taught you to look for when he was bored one evening. He called it the Dark Net, the secret, unpoliced underbelly of the web that sorta functioned as a black market for information and interaction. He'd only shown it to you because you'd asked how Drakken kept getting those condo's when he always blew them up. The Dark Net has weird Credit Ratings. System erasure? How'd they get past my personal antivirus programs?!

You find one group down there that seems OK though. They seem to know what they're doing. They've got a full run down on the five primary types of Vampires, a general idea of what to expect from each of them, and a whole bunch of stuff that newbie hunters should be aware of. You still aren't sure if they're on the up and up, but it's far and away the best source that you've been able to find. You wish you could just get Wade to do this though, he's always rocked the tech. Oh, this means war. I don't know who you are, Network Zero, but welcome to my hit list!

Eventually, Sunday rolls back around, and you find yourself back in school. In the Morning. On a weekend. Seriously, why did you think this was a good idea again? Right the whole, homicidal supernatural monster thing. Anyway, you're there, the populars are there, and Mister B is standing in front of the room again looking like he wants a debriefing. Man, before you did some research you would have thought that involved one of your pants malfunctions.

Surprisingly, Brick goes first, looking pretty anxious too. "Yeah, so, I had some problems," He says, "I managed to sharpen up some stakes in woodshop, but other than that I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to be doing. Is garlic effective? Do we need holy water or crosses or something? I mean, I got the stakes, but beyond that I kinda had no idea what to do, or what to get."

There's silence at that. The first week, and you're already having problems? Still, something's better than nothing and you were the one who didn't give Brick enough Info. It's your screw up, and you own your screw ups. Sometimes they're all you've got!

You speak out, "Thanks Brick. That's my bad. I didn't know what we needed, or anything, that's why I did some research and asked Bonnie to as well. We'll know what we need now Brick, and we can get what we need."

You'd taken some inspiration from Mister B's presentation last week, and brought a couple pictures for the overhead projector. The first one is a picture like the one he had, but a lot more blurry. Still, it was one of the best ones you could find on your own.

"As far as I could find out," you start, "Vampire weaknesses are pretty typical. No major variations from the whole cliche. Stake through the heart, decapitation, fire, the whole nine yards."

You switch to the next slide which is a grainy image of what looks like a humanoid figure holding a car over its head. "Unfortunately, their strengths are about what you'd expect as well. They're stronger, faster, and more durable than your average, normal, everyday human being. So we'll have to be really careful about how we go about this. I've got some more detailed info in some packets for everybody if you want 'em, and we should probably all read them before we go hunting." Your piece said you sit down.

Tara and Bonnie look at each other for a moment. Bonnie's looking smug for some reason, but it can't be that bad because she just waves Tara to go first. Tara walks up to the podium at the front of the classroom with some papers and stands there for a moment, looking nervous. If you didn't know she was way awesome at the cheer squad you'd think she might have stage fright or something! After a few seconds though she squares her shoulders and starts talking.

"Alright,so, I found some places, but I'm not sure which one is the right one," She pages through her notes for a moment, "I asked the police, canvassed the area, and tried to figure out as much as I could. It was a lot of info though, so I still need to narrow it down." You look at her worriedly, she was wandering around the hunting ground of a vampire alone?! You must not have been the only one worried about that though, because Tara looks around the room and frowns, "Jeez guys, I didn't do it at night. I was careful to only go anywhere near there during the day, way before sundown. Give me some credit!" You're not the only one nodding a bit sheepishly after that.

"Anyway," she says, "I've got four or so places I think are the most likely, and we can look at them together," her eyes swing right over the room and she freezes for a moment, "After Bonnie's done!" She scurries back to her seat.

Bonnie slouches to the front of the room in response, a disinterested smirk on her face, and a folder of her own in her hands. "The Loser wanted me to ask Mister Barkin about things. Naturally, I got way more information than him." She smirked and held up her folder, "Mister Barkin was nice enough to work up a full dossier on the Vampire in question. I got everything we need to know about this guy. Actual strengths, detailed weaknesses, good ways to take him down relatively safely, the whole shebang." She smirks at you, a familiar look of arrogant condescension all over her face. At least she's taking this seriously?

Mister B nodded along with Bonnie's statements before standing himself, motioning her back to her seat, and taking his customary place at the front of the classroom.

"Alright people, not bad for your first week on the job," he says, "You were smart enough to ask someone experienced for information," he looks at Bonnie, "try and verify that information yourself," he looks at you, "get the lay of the land," he looks at Tara, "and recognize when you didn't know what to do," he looks at Brick.

"Now," he says, "Before we go over all the information everyone's got, I think this is the perfect time for a teamwork exercise!"

Oh great, trust falls, or whatever other lame thing he's got planned. Well, at least it shouldn't be too much hard work?

"Uh, so, what are we doing, sir?" asks Brick.

The grin that appears on Mister B's face at that question will haunt your nightmares. His response? One word.

"Paintball."

The following three hours were some of the most horrible of your life to date. It was almost as bad as Wannaweep! Apparently, Mister B had some contacts that let him A) get full sets of Paintball equipment for all five of you, and B) locate and secure a training area.

You thought you knew what life and death combat was, you went on Missions with Kim against mad scientists and Super Villains for pete's sake! Worthless! All of it! Mister B was a whole other level of danger! You'd never seen a hench move like him!

At first, you'd thought things would be OK, it was just paintball after all, like laser tag but with a bit more pain, right? Yeah. No.

Mister B had ordered everyone else to team up against him, and he had slaughtered you all. Mercilessly. No matter what you did, no matter how you tried you could not get the drop on him! You had no idea how a guy as big as him could move that fast! The first round was just embarrassing, as everyone tried to do their own thing. Brick had barrelled in, Bonnie and Tara had struck off on their own looking for the high ground, and you'd floundered. Total failure. Mister B had taken you down one by one.

The second round was just as bad. You'd all had the necessity of working together beaten into you, but actually doing that? Easier said than done. You weren't used to being in any kind of command position, but you were the only one with anything resembling combat experience. Brick and Tara deferred to you pretty quick. You had no idea what their strengths and weaknesses were, but at least you were working together. The real snag was Bonnie. She would not listen. Once a loser, always a loser to hear her tell it. She ran off on her own at the start of the second round and got taken out quick. You and the others lasted a bit longer, but Barkin still picked you apart. He was fast, quiet, and scary accurate. The only time you heard him was when he used his annihilation of you as a teachable moment, yelling explanations as he vanished into the trees.

"Rockwaller! Never abandon your unit!" pht pht

"FLAGG! You're an easy target when out of position!" pht pht

"KING! Eyes on the field, not on Stoppable!" pht pht

"Stoppable! Your team is DOWN! WHY ARE YOU STILL STANDING!?" pht pht pht pht pht

So. Much. Bruising. You shudder at the memory.

Still, it wasn't all bad. After the utter beatdown of the first two rounds, Bonnie was finally willing to grudgingly get with the program by round three. She listened, kept in position, and your team, in Mister B's words, "Actually managed to stay in formation long enough not to die horribly." It was far from perfect, but it was a start.

"Given you opponent was me, I'll rate that as a satisfactory showing. I expect you to perform better the next time we do this. Given time is running out, I'd like to thank you all for coming back to the first official meeting of the Middleton High Hunting Club." And with a nod, the teacher turned to leave you all to your own devices.

After cleaning what remnants of the slaughter Mr. Barkin brought off of you clothes, you pooled your information with everyone else, went over Tara's target's, Bonnie's evaluation, and your general information. You even made sure that Brick knew exactly what he needed to get this next week. Now it's time to decide what you're going to actually do:

 **Major Category - Team Actions (choose one)** [x] There's no I in Team redux. Alright, so Mister B utterly destroyed you guys this time. Still, no matter how much of an embarrassment you all were, you made progress by the end and that's gotta be a good thing. Spend some more time working with your teammates to try and be less of a trainwreck.

 **Major Category - Assignments (assign Bonnie, Tara and Ron. Brick is locked in)**

 **Information Gathering**

[X] Tricity Cartography. Middleton and her sister cities are a bit on the huge side. You need to research where things are, and what the layout's like if you're going to be hunting. Knowing the terrain is important for this kind of thing.  
-[X] Bonnie  
-[X] Ron  
[X] To catch a (supernatural) predator. You've got a man eating homicidal vampire. That's great! You've even got an idea of where it lives, but more information is always good!  
-[X] Ask Around. You've already got a good idea of what you need to know, but asking the people near the scene of the crime about weird activity or people in the area will get you verification. The information won't be as fresh as it could have been, and someone will have to sift through all of the conflicting stories to get a real idea of what happened. Check: Social Difficulty: Easy, Complexity: Simple  
-[x] Tara

 **Major Category - Free Time**

[X] Official Ceasefire. It's official, you're stuck with Bonnie. She enjoyed showing you up way too much to quit now. Maybe you should work on that before your inability to work together causes more problems in training and in the field like it already has. Maybe you can even get a handle on the whole 'dating' rumor. She probably finds it as sick and wrong as you do!


	9. Week 3- Laying the Groundwork

Ultimately, you decide to refrain from hunting down any vampires this week. You're in a better position than you were, but you need equipment. Thankfully, the information you and Bonnie got together is enough for Brick to get exactly what you'll need.

That being so, you decide to spend the week finishing off your preparation. Brick knows what the group needs now, so he'll go finish that. Tara did a great job getting information last week, so you ask her to keep at it and get some more information from human sources. Finally, there's Bonnie.

It's pretty clear that when she wants to she can be pretty capable, like last year when she managed to snake the Cheer Captaincy from Kim for a couple weeks. That was, until all the work that that required was too much for her and she quit in a huff. You could see her talent in the information she'd gotten from Mister B. Unfortunately, you could also see that she's still got _big_ problems with you. If she's coming along on this mess, then you're going to need to work on that.

Accordingly, and against what you think might be your better judgement, you assign her to help you map out the Tricity area. If there's anything that today's Paintball matches taught you, it's that you need to know your ground. You'll also be able to kill two birds with one stone, and maybe work out some of your differences with Bon-Bon.

About the only one who looks happy at that choice is Mister B. Everyone else? Well, at least Brick's nonchalant about it. Tara's got a look on her face that looks like it might grow into something like Kim's Puppy Dog pout if you're not careful, and Bonnie herself is frowning up a storm. Before anyone else can react though Mister B starts yelling.

"Alright, people, you've got your assignments. I'm sure none of you want to spend any more of your weekend in School than you have to. Everybody OUT!"

Brick doesn't need to be twice, and given you think he was everyone else's ride Bonnie and Tara chase after him, though not without giving you some odd looks on the way out. As you make your way towards the door though, Barkin speaks up again.

"Not you, Stoppable. I've got something for you."

He hands you another information packet like the ones that Bonnie had prepared for today.

"This is a preliminary after action report on today's teamwork exercise. I want you to read it, learn it, and do better before next week."

Great, more homework. As if you didn't have enough on your plate! Still, you guess he's just trying to help, so you take the papers with nothing more than a nod.

"Alright Stoppable, Clear out."

You walk towards the door, already bemoaning the ridiculous amount of homework you've got. Internally of course, since you don't want to piss Mister B off. Rufus isn't fooled though and he runs up your side to perch on your shoulder and pat your head consolingly while chittering comfortingly at you.

As you head out the door Mister B sighs, "Stoppable, if you have any questions about that, you're welcome to call me during the week. You kids didn't do too badly today, and I want to encourage this whole responsibility thing you've started on."

That's ... huh. You don't think you've had a teacher say something that approving since Pre-k. Usually, they're all "Live up to your potential Mister Stoppable," or "Stop Slacking Mister Possible," or even "Be more like Miss Possible Mister Stoppable, she's a straight A student!" As though you didn't know Kim was awesome. This is the first time that you've actually had a teacher, y'know, encourage you. You're not sure how you feel about that, but you guess it's kinda nice.

You nod to Mister B and head out, with a bit more of a spring in your step and a bit less doom and gloom cluttering your thoughts.

XxX

The week itself for you was filled with mapmaking and canvassing of the Middleton area. You had an excuse to do so, actually.

"Okay, I think I've got it this time! Ron, does the green or the yellow jacket go better with this top?" Next to you, Kim was busy trying to match up clothing as you tried your best not to look at the price tags and assorted Banana patches of this abomination of a clothing store. As you looked over the outfit, your best friend tossed the clothes aside for another group of fabrics she deemed as "totally hot right now".

You'd complain about even being here, not to mention the stupid prices especially since you knew smarty mart had the exact same clothes for a fraction of the cost. It was crazy that she didn't realize this, even going so far as to calling you delusional for denying the importance of a single tag! God, that was one of the few things you'd just admit was a fundamental truth. When it came to clothes shopping, you were right and Kim was wrong.

...Not that you'd ever let her hear that while you were around. You'd never hear the end of it, well not after at least an hour of torture on how club Banana products were obviously superior make and quality in comparison to the 'trash' at Smarty Mart. You were sorry Rufus was there the one time it happened, given that he was so mad he quietly chewed off the Banana tags on her jeans in retaliation. Of course, you scolded him publicly for that bout of nastiness before secretly giving him a double order of Nacos that night.

He earned it.

However, this bit of suffering did serve a purpose. Well, two purposes. You knew you'd been kind of distant to Kim ever since the whole 'Vampire Hunter' thing started and that she knew you'd been getting distant. So you asked her if she wanted to hang out pretty much all week after school. It was Late October after all, and you wanted to check out people putting up Halloween decorations soon. It was coming around next week, and checking out the area would be a good way to help get a feel for what major places were in Middleton. Today, a Monday, you were in Middleton Mall. You'd planned to take a walk around once you'd gotten past the little bit of window shopping KP always dragged you through. Once that was over, you spent the rest of the day together, looking through the major attractions and sights of Downtown Middleton before finally retiring for the day. With that over, you opened the cheaply colored map of the tricity area you bought and started drawing lines throughout the the roads and markings of the place, updating it with the knowledge you now possessed.

Tuesday was more of the same, though this time you questioned your life choices as you walked up the slopes of mount Middleton. In the distance Kim was soldiering on without a break in her step, passing by cute little paper ghosts and bats that were really well-made if you said so yourself. No matter how necessary this was, you couldn't help but feel like everything else was pressing down on you the more you walked upward. By the time you got to the peak, where one of the rangers had set up a small table with water and punch on the table for the few brave souls who managed to be crazy enough to go up there. Kim was busy chatting with the guy, who seemed kind of lonely right now since you were pretty sure you were the first two to actually make the climb. While she talked, you sat down at the peak, and tried working out how the borders would look in your mind with a cup of punch in your hand and Rufus wheezing beside you even though you knew he was in your pocket the whole time. Minutes later, you found Kim sitting by your side.

"Hey Ron, ready to make the descent?" You were pretty sure the groan was enough of a response as you stood up and tried your best not t-

Yeah, why did you think you wouldn't look down?! It was going to be a long day…

Wednesday was when you went to the frou-frou areas of Middleton, looking out at the posh and wealthy people's decorations before going to one of the area's more well-known haunted houses- The Lair of the Monkey King. Kim was surprised you even suggested going to a haunted house in the area, much less this one, however you had things to do there and needed an excuse. No matter how much the thought of running away at the very thought. She could tell you were freaked. No, you were pretty sure everyone in the area could tell you were freaked if the ceaseless shaking was any indication. In response, she grabbed your hand as you walked forward to reassure you before the two of you walked into the first room of the house.

-five horror filled minutes later-

Let it be said that you would never, EVER do that again. Of course, leaving in the second room screaming wasn't the best showing anyone had ever thought you could give, but it was better than you expected. Your pants were dry and you fled at the sight of a surprise howling monkey like any sane man would. Sure, it was a cheap plastic cutout but it looked real enough and you weren't taking any chances. Stupid things would probably lull you into a false sense of security before BOOM, Monkey Fist attack! The only positive was that you had the info you needed, and would hopefully never do this again.

Thursday was the most relaxed of them all, probably because Kim knew you weren't exactly up for much after the horror show that had been Wednesday. There wasn't much done beyond checking out the Possible house, having brain loaf for dinner with them and going with everyone to see the best setups and comment on them all. It was nice, and Mr. Dr. P even invited you to go with the family to the little Halloween party the Space Center puts on which meant you'd be able to get somewhere you'd planned on begging Kim to let you visit without any problems. ALl in all, it was a pretty good day after the events before. You continued updating the map in your room, getting very close to a complete picture of how Middleton looked. After texting Bonnie that you wanted to meet up on Saturday to compare notes, you went to sleep happy that your progress was almost complete.

Friday was… nice. You got to see Ms Dr P in her Frankenstein suit, Mr Dr P with his Mad scientist impression and Kim was without battle armor this time around, so that was already a plus. Neither of you dressed up, she was too busy with schoolwork to care, and you didn't really feel anything yet. You knew that Kim wasn't on board with pair costumes since what happened last year so those were out, and you didn't want to do something predictably silly like going as a taco or a hotdog.

Maybe a ninja this time? Shaking your head, you went back to looking out of the building's ceiling and trying to get an idea of the area. Kim left, Wade said something about the heist that he wanted to talk to her about before getting cut off by his mother who was screaming something about indecency and disappointment. Kim left to go check if the little dude was okay. It was a bummer-once you'd finished getting an idea of the place you'd thought you'd be able to go have fun at the party afterward. You knew that the rest of the Possible clan would be disappointed, but beyond Kim there really wasn't much else to do here and you had work to get done.

Saturday was different, though. You refrained from meeting up with Kim again, and instead found yourself going to the Middleton Beach to map out the final part of your area. That Bonnie was there would make very little of a difference in the end. Heck, maybe you'd get more done if she wouldn't distract you! Taking the opportunity to dress warmly, you proceeded to the destination.

Only to be shocked at the bikini clad form of Bonnie sitting on a tanning bed, sunglasses and all. Really, did she want to catch a cold or something?! It was 50 degrees out for crying out loud! Ignoring her… less than smart fashion decision you approached the place she was sitting. As you sat down next to her, she looked at you briefly before turning her gaze back to the tanning mirrors she had been using. You waited for her to greet you, but after a few minutes of nothing you decided to initiate.

"Hey Bon-bon." WIth a snap the tanning mirrors closed and she heaved an annoyed sigh pointed in your general direction.

"Hello, Loser." Okay, you thought that the two of you had gotten past that! You were working together and she was your ally, however odd that sounded for the girl who was basically the Supervillain Queen of the Middleton High. With a disdainful look, she focused her attention on you as she stood up. You almost swore you heard her snort at your classic combo of jersey and pants! Of course, you were willing to give her the benefit of the do-

"So it seems _someone's_ been sacrificing fashion for speed these days." Oh, wow. You were not going to let that one slide.

"Yeah, what do I know? If you turn enough heads then someone'll probably call an ambulance when you get hypothermia, right?" Seriously, if fashion meant losing your toes you much prefered being laughed at by everyone else.

"Whatever, loser. Lets just get through here and get this done." And with that, she started walking around the area, a notepad coming from the small strip of fabric you assumed had to be a purse that cost more than you spent in a year. She flipped through the pages, surprisingly filled with notes and diagrams before getting to a blank one and beginning to write. Similarly, you started to take note of the surrounding area and creating a mental image of the place in your mind to be used for later, a space reserved for vampire hunting, supervillains and challenging video game levels. It took minutes of focused silence and walking for the two of you to get everything you needed in the area. You made sure to figure out the general borders of this place for when you marked it on the map.

By the time it finished, you were following her lead, she went to what a car you swore was worth more than your parents' house and motioned for you to get in. Awkwardly, you sat in passenger's seat, doing your best not to damage or even make it look like you'd been in here at all.

"God, don't be so stiff, Loser. My dad has, like, ten of these." With a sigh, you tried to relax back into the seat, but really this whole situation was crazy. You were driving in a sports car with _Bonnie,_ who was clad in nothing but a _bikini_. It was insane, this just seemed too surre-

"For someone who's all about owning who they are you're sure taking the crazy guy thing by the balls aren't you?" Okay, you didn't think you were doing too bad around her but sure you'd stop whatever it was you were doing. There was a derisive chuckle from her before she turned her attention back to the road. Middleton faded in the distance as she drove on and the skyline of Upperton approached. As you got closer, Bonnie shifted her car to an exit that you were pretty sure lead to the National Park nearby. A few minutes later and the vehicle was in parked and the two of you walked through the trails decorated with leaves of red and yellow. It was pleasant, though the two of you spent most of the time in silence. You'd started mapping the place in your mind, trying to fit it in on your giant map of the Tricity area. After an hour of walking, you'd gone back to the car and gotten ready to leave.

As Bonnie pulled out, you finally pulled up the courage to talk to the Queen Bee of Middleton.

"You know, you're kind of alright Bonnie." Your compliment was rewarded with an amused snort as you cruised down the highway toward Middleton again.

"And you're not pond scum, loser. You had enough common sense to talk to Tara before going to me. Good call, bread mold." Well, it was a start.

"Sooo, truce?" You held out your hand to seal the deal. Bonnie just rolled her eyes at you.

"If that's what you want to call it. Now how do we get to your house so I can drop you off?" She still didn't want to shake your hand, though, and you were getting really kind of tired of it staying in that one position. Really, she was someti-

Oh, right. Moving car. Retracting your arm, you sheepishly gave her the directions to your humble abode. After ten minutes more of driving, you got out of the car and waved at her as she left to the gawking crowd. Some were taking pictures, probably because you didn't see cars like that every day. Heck, you probably would too. With a pep in your step, you opened to door and finished off the rest of the day by updating your map and finally going to sleep happy.

You buried the hatchet with you worst enemy, and that was good enough for now.

xXx

Finally, Sunday rolled around again. It was weird. You were almost starting to look forward to these meetings. You weren't really sure why, maybe because people actually listened to you at them? Kim was your best friend, but she wasn't exactly Miss Listener. Seriously, how she failed to understand the glory of the Naco after all the times you've explained it to her is beyond you!

Anyway, when you hit the school parking lot this time it was deserted except for Mister B's old junker of a car. Guess the whole applying yourself was making it easier to get up in the mornings. Truly, that vampire will be shaking in his boots at your ability to be up and functional before noon on a Sunday.

You made your way to Homeroom and found Mister B sitting there waiting, going through some notes.

"Stoppable," he said as you walked in, "What were your thoughts on those AAR analyses I sent you?"

Oof, the homework on top of the homework. Going over that stuff had not been fun. Rufus had had to help you with some of the more complicated stuff, but you'd made it through. "Mister B," you grinned, "I have read all of your stuff and I think you'll be surprised by how we do this week!"

"Hmph," Mister B grunted, "We'll see Stoppable. While we wait for the rest of your team to show up, why don't you give me a run down of what you've found."

You've got no problem with that. After this past week you feel like you know the Tricity area like the back of your hand, and you say so. You talk about high crime areas, danger zones, cop patrol routes, and everything else you were able to find. You even looked into the areas where the Ambulance companies work out of, so you'd know the ETAs for EMTs in a crisis.

Mister B actually looks a bit surprised at your thoroughness. "I'm impressed Stoppable, that's good work." he says with a smirk on his face, "Keep this up and you'll be ready before you know it."

That... that was an unvarnished compliment. A teacher had said... something completely positive about you and your work. The shock of it stuns you for a bit, and by the time you're paying attention again, Tara's waving her hand in front of your face and calling your name.

"Ron," she says worriedly, "Ron, are you okay?" It looks like while you were in lalaland the rest of the Hunting Club had shown up.

"Yeah, sure," you reply, "I'm fine Tara, just... had a bit of a weird moment," She doesn't look too convinced at that, and Bonnie's got that condescending smirk on her face _again_. At least Brick takes what you said at face value, though Mister B looks like he's hiding a small grin himself.

"Alright, People," he says from the front of the room, "Who's first?"

Brick stands up immediately before anyone else can, "Yo," he says, "I am DONE!" He reaches under his desk and brings out a **HUGE** bag that clanks when he drops it. "I've got stakes, I've got incendiaries, I've got anything and everything we need to take the fight to a bloodsucker! We are good to go!" He grins. Looks like having an actual list of things instead of vague unclear directions makes Brick productive.

Mister B walks over to the bag and looks through it for a moment. "Very Nice Mister Flagg," he says, "You've got everything I could expect a High School student to pick up for this. More actually!" He reaches into the bag and pulls out... Is that a _gun?!_ "Where'd you get the Flare Gun?"

"I raided some camping supplies. We haven't gone camping in a couple years, but I test fired it yesterday and it's good to go. My dad taught me how to use it back when he bought it, but I think that was the first time it came out of the box since."

"Very nice," Mister B says. He turns a gimlet eye to the rest of you, "Who's next?"

You're about to stand up when Tara raises her hand, "Ooh!" she cries, "Me! Me next!"

She bounces to the front of the room and smiles at you all. "It took me a lot of work, and I had to cover a _lot_ of ground, but I think I know where it is. It took talking with this one really groddy old guy who would _not stop talking_ , but between his testimony and the police reports I got last week, I think I know where the Vampire is hiding out!"

You stare for half a second. That, that was _way_ more than you were expecting. Tara came through! "Way to go Tara!" you yell at the top of your lungs.

Tara goes bright red at that. Huh, guess you embarassed her, she must not like the attention. You'll have to be more careful about that in the future!

"Well said Stoppable, well said," Mister B cuts in, "You want to go next?"

"Ah yes s-sir," You stammer as you make your way to the front of the room. You pass Tara on her way to her seat and give her a grin and a thumbs up. She goes nuclear again, and man you are not good at this whole discretion thing! Gonna have to work on that.

You give the whole group a rundown of what you put together. Bonnie nods along here and there, and puts in her two cents. You'd done a lot of legwork, but she had a bit of a different focus than you. You'd been concerned about stuff like EMS and danger areas, but she'd looked into things like traffic patterns and where people actually went regularly.

With her input, you manage to paint a picture of the Tricity area that is about as complete as you can make it. Mister B takes it all in impassively, but Tara's grinning at you, guess she's impressed by your mad cartography skills! Though, she does shoot an odd look at Bonnie now and again for some reason. Brick just nods along with what you're saying, unsurprised.

After you're finished, Mister B takes the stage again. "Alright People," man he likes saying that, "Before we get to planning for next week, it's time for a rematch!" His face contorts in the most evil grin you've ever seen, "Let's see what you've learned."

xXx

It turns out, more than Mister B expected! You actually manage to be _cohesive_ this time. Nobody runs off on their own (Bonnie), focuses on any one team member more than the rest (Tara), or ignores orders (Brick). You even manage to take a few hits for the team, and make sure everyone stays in until the end!

After you've gone a few rounds Mister B even looks satisfied even if you were the only one to tag him, and even then only the once. "Hmph," he snorts, "Guess you actually paid attention to your homework Stoppable."

"Yessir Mister B, I am Mister Homework!" Oh god what has gone wrong with your life that that's true. You wince for a moment at the loss of your innocence. You're actually... gasp/shudder/cringe ...responsible.

You all adjourn back to the classroom, a bit more colorful than you left it, but a lot happier overall. Everybody's feeling the improvement from last week. The reduction in screaming invective made for a nice change.

Before Mister B can ask you though, you actually take the initiative for the first time.

What's your Plan, Naco Boy?

 **Major Category - Team Actions**

[X] Marching Orders. If you're hunting supernatural creatures, you're going to need to plan ahead. Once you've found it what are you going to do? You've got a rough idea of everybody's strengths and weaknesses now, so work out some plans. They may not last long after contact with the enemy, but the more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in battle, right?

 **Major Category - Assignments** (assign Bonnie, Tara, Brick, and Ron)

Missions

[X] The First Hunt; There's a vampire running around, and it's _still_ out there hurting people. You think you know where it lives, _and_ what it can do. You and your team **can** stop this thing before it hurts anyone else. Who knows? Hunting on Halloween may even help!

-EVERYONE

 **Major Category - Freetime**

[X] We're still getting Extra Credit for this, Right? It looks like you're the founding president of the Club Mister B has set up. So far he hasn't said anything about it, but what does that entail? Does it come with any responsibilities or perks? And does Mister B have any advice for how you can do better at this whole... hunter thing?


	10. The First HUnt- Preparation

There were a bunch of idea-excuses, really- running through your head on what to do this weekend outside of going to go kill the Vampire. There was always more prep work you could do, and Kim would need you for the mission, and the map of the tri-city area wasn't complete yet, and you could keep going on and on about it. You knew the truth of the matter, though.

You were scared. This wasn't some sort of supervillain like Drakken who couldn't get an invention to work to save his life or even Monkey Fist whose only real target was you. You saw the blood pooling around your sneakers again, and the body lying there as the creature drank its blood. That thing was a killer, something even scarier than monkeys! There was no way yo-

A hand clasped your shoulder in a firm grip, tightening in a bit of offered reassurance. The face of Mr. Barkin stared down at you, a strange mixture of sympathy and understanding written on his face. Looking through the room, you saw similar expressions on everyone there, even Bonnie who hid it behind a sneer. You could do this, you weren't alone and you couldn't allow it to hurt more people. With a smile and a small sigh, you looked up.

"We're going to go for this thing on Friday, all of us." Everyone in the room gave your a different response at that. Tara's smile fell slightly, but she did her best to keep it up. Bonnie rolled her eyes at the statement, but her fists tightened around the skirt she was wearing. Brick simply nodded, looking totally okay with what was happening despite what it entailed. Beside you, you could almost swear Mister Barkin gave you a ghost of a smile before looking away from you to the rest of the group.

"You heard him, we'll meet here Friday afternoon to do this. Any questions?" It was a plan, then. Being Halloween weekend, you did have the day off and it wasn't like any of the parties were starting before six so no one else could complain. Heck, you could even try to get Kim to trick or treat with you again this year! If not, you're sure that you could convince the twins to help you get the best sweet stash like you did before. It's not like you were going to be go to any of those lame parties even if you were invited and no one here would like to go with you to ring up the neighborhood's houses for candy. Still, there was one thing you wanted to do before the mission, now that you thought about it.

"Hey, you guys mind meeting up one more time before we do this? Like, Wednesday night after cheer and football practice or something? I think it would be smart to figure out an action plan before we go do this, you know?" You found yourself greeted with a chorus of assenting nods, each person in the room seemingly okay with taking a bit of extra time to straighten things out. After that, the five of you left, and you went home to prep for Monday's algebra test.

Man you hope you didn't fail that. For all Mr. Barkin seemed to like you, it only made you feel worse when he gave you the "I know you can do better and I'm disappointed in you" stare. What's worse was that you were honestly starting to believe him. You were actually feeling confident about getting homework done! What high-schooler did tha-

The buzzing of your cell phone in Kim's special ringtone put a stop to any other thoughts you had.

XxX

Okay, so studying was much more interesting than you'd thought. Well, it was more that you were doing so while in a boat going down the Congo that made it such but you'd take what you could get to make it through this. On the ride back, you remained stuck in your work, hoping against hope that you'd manage to not fail with one day of studying.

But hey, Kim didn't need to for an A and you were like 60% sure you could get a D with a few hours of hard work. As the teacher pushed the slips of paper to each student, you watched with dread as judgement approached. You looked to see Ms. Whisp's lips in a sadistic curl, as if she was about to break into a maniacal laugh at your destined failure. Turning over the sheet, you looked into your do-

Oh, a B-. Awesome. You gave a thumbs up to Kim, who returned the favor. As you turned around, you noticed Tara giving a weak smile at a C and Bonnie smirking triumphantly at the A+ on her desk. Class ended a little latter and as you walked back to your locker with Kim you couldn't contain your enthusiasm.

"Wow, I'm glad you managed to get a B, Ron. See what happens when you actually study and apply yourself?" Okay, so maybe this studying thing had merits even though you didn't want to think about recursive functions ever again.

"I'm just glad I managed to pass. I mean, I'm not like you, you know." With the Kim puffed up and looked at you quizzically.

"And what is that supposed to mean, Ron?"

"I mean, you were able to get an A- in the pop quiz without even needing to study! You're way better than I'll ev-" Okay, what did you do wrong here? You were just stating facts and she dope slapped you?! Looking over, you saw your best friend gripping her face while both grimacing and trying to hold in laughter.

"Were you literally so absorbed in your studying that you didn't notice I was cramming for the test right next to you?" Had she, all you remembered was going on a very long journey to find X as the pilot tried to find Middleton.

"In my defense Kim, shutting you out got me a B-. Maybe there's something in that?" You teased back, as her she finally failed to contain her laughter at your somewhat bad joke. Coming up to her locker, she looked back to you.

"Well I'm just glad you're finally living up to your name, potential boy." As she opened up her locker, Wade's face greeted you.

"Hey guys, I've got some news on a break-in at a government lab. Something about a project Phoeb- Kim is that a B- you're holding?! What happened?" Even vigilant, Wade skipped from the supervillainy stuff to the really important bits. If you saw her holding a B- you'd be asking what the problem was too. Some time during your walk, she must have taken the thing to see how she could help you improve.

"Oh, this is Ron's test!" She proudly displayed the name to your hacker friend, and he gave you a big smile.

"Good job, man! I knew you had it in you! Now, the reports have come in that Shego and Drakken have broken into the lab of something called project Phoebus. I've already got a helicopter en route. They'll be able to pick you up in about three minutes."

"You'll have to put a hold on that, Stoppable." Turning around, you saw the form of Mr. Barkin looming above, his stare boring into you. Even if he was on your side now that still creeped you out. He looked to Kim and Wade before speaking again.

"I'm here to bring Mr. Stoppable in for a long talk about his priorities in life." You looked over to Kim, hoping for some excuse to escape from this lecture you knew was coming from that statement alone! He even winked at you evilly as you desperately looked for help. Kim looked at you, and shrugged.

"If you think that's necessary, though I do think that he's been turning a new leaf," she brandished the test like a shield, "He even broke his streak in Algebra!"

He looked at the thing, showing a surprising lack of surprise at the revelation before turning to you again.

"And this is why I need to talk to him, Ms. Possible. This is about helping him be better than he was rather than slip back into bad habits." Okay, so not totally bad like you'd been thinking. And the way he stared at you like it was particularly important meant that you should probably go with him, even if it was to flake on a mission. However, you could help her out a bit, opening your backpack, you looked down to Rufus.

"Hey there, I have some stuff to take care of but Kim's got a mission. I need you to look out for her where I can't, buddy." He nodded before quickly scurrying into one of Kim's pockets and giving you a thumbs up. You were confident they could make do without you as you followed Mr. Barkin away from them.

And it was Dr. Drakken, how hard could it be for Kim to beat his blue butt again?

XxX

Kim Possible plummeted through the air, just another day, another mission. Though admittedly, this was the first one in a long time where Ron wasn't coming along with her. It didn't feel right. Still, detention was detention, and even if he wasn't focusing on Ron the way he used to, Mister Barkin still wasn't someone you wanted mad at you. He could tank a student's grades in any class! Sadly, missions waited for no one, so Kim was running solo today. A high pitched shrill of worry broke the air over Des Moines. Well, not totally solo. Rufus was there to tag along where Ron couldn't.

She had been impressed at Ron's Algebra grade though. He'd finally broken his string of F's! Actually studying on that river boat ride down the Congo after the mission in Central Africa finished must have totally helped him. It was good, if a bit weird, to see he was finally realizing his potential. It was just ferociously bad luck that Barkin had grabbed him while Wade was giving them the skinny on the mission.

Kim hit the ground running, with Rufus' squeaking in her ears and flapping off her shoulder like a flag. Once she got in she was a bit underwhelmed. Apparently, nobody onsite knew what Project Phoebus actually did! And they were completely locked out of the main room of the Project! Still, Rufus was on the job. He scurried into the vents and let her in in record time.

There she was, facing off with Shego and Drakken for what felt like the millionth time, and Shego had to open her big fat mouth. "Aww Kimmie, no Sidekick today? What, did the little weirdo have better things to do than hang out with little miss perfect?" Shego smirked.

That actually put Kim off her game. Ron had been a lot less present lately, almost...pulling away and Shego of all people picking up on that... well, it pushed her buttons. So, she might be forgiven for ignoring everything else and bull rushing the plasma wielding supervillain. It wasn't the smartest choice, but for a pissed off teenager in a high stress situation it was pretty understandable.

The fight was a bit more brutal than usual because of that. Kim ignored every quip or sneer aimed at her, and focused on taking Shego down. As a result, Rufus was alone with Drakken. You'd think a grown man would be able to take a tiny hairless rodent, but apparently not. Drakken flailed across the room, shaking all his limbs and screaming at the top of his lungs as Rufus scurried up and down the blue man's body. Eventually, both fights had to end.

After what seemed like forever, Drakken finally managed to fling Rufus away from him, and fell back into a strange device that looked like a salon's hair drying chair. Rufus flew across the room and crashed into a control device, which immediately started sparking. Almost simultaneously, Kim's furious assault ended with a flying kick that threw Shego into Drakken, just as the salon chair started to glow blue.

The collision caused the chair they'd been tangled with to explode, launching both of them out of the room towards the large drilling device they'd used to break in. Oh no, Kim thought, This can't be good. She rushed over to the destroyed chair and caught a glimpse of the disappearing mole device. Whatever had happened to the two supervillains it hadn't stopped them from fleeing the scene of the crime. Kim had other priorities just then though.

"Rufus!" Kim cried out, "Are you alright?!"

"Ahuhahuh," squeaked Rufus as he ran up to Kim, and climbed up her leg.

Kim picked him up and held him in her hands, before taking a look around at the scene of devastation that surrounded her, "I hope that chair wasn't anything important..."

xXx

Minutes after being pulled aside, you found yourself being dragged into the English room that you had recruited Mr. Barkin in about month ago. It was between class blocks, and Mr. Ansel was out sick today so there was absolutely no one there when the two of you walked in. Taking care to close and lock the door while using his other hand to pull down the blinder, Mr Barkin sat in the teacher's desk before motioning for you to go on the other side of the piece of furniture. Grabbing a nearby chair, you did just that.

"Stoppable, I said we needed to have a conversation about your priorities. So, let's talk. How do you feel about being a Hunter?"

...You know, you never really thought about that until now. Sure, you were pretty darn dedicated to it but that was because people were in danger and you wanted to help them as much as you possibly could. You were afraid of pretty much everything to do with this. Heck, you weren't sure you'd ever stop being terrified of the whole idea of hunting vampires. It was like Kim said, really: 'you can't beat your fears, you live with them'. Of course the only reason that you remembered that was because it was the first time either of you had gone for an airdrop and you screamed so much you passed out a little.

But you got better then, and you'd get better now. It was really the only option. It wasn't like you could just not help people. That would be wrong and you could only imagine Kim giving you her best 'you tried' smile which really, really sucked since you wanted to do this so much.

And that was your answer, wasn't it?

"I… kinda like it, Mr B. I mean, beside the whole unending terror at the thought that literal vampires could eat me whenever or that there might be more things out there that want to make me lunch and, AND that some of those monster might also be monkeys because they're evil and only monkeys can be so truly malicious! I MEAN, I WILL FREAK IF I HAVE TO FIGHT ONE OF THOSE TH-"

Okay, time to stop yourself. Breath in, breath out. Beside you your teacher's stony face displayed nothing but one raised eyebrow and an amused look in his eyes. Once you managed to get yourself back under control, he motioned for you to continue.

"And despite all of that, I'm still here. I think that says a lot." He nodded, completely in agreement with what you said before beginning to speak himself.

"It does. The work you've displayed in the past few weeks has been admirable and I'm not just talking about in Hunting. Ever since this started, I've heard of an almost unthinkable change in you from the other teachers. You're not a stellar student like Bonnie or Kim, but you're definitely not the fourth musketeer of D-Hall anymore. Do you even realize that I haven't had to keep you after school for this entire time?" Really, have you been so far out of the norm that you hadn't had detention in the past few weeks? Looking back, the most recent time you had visited that boring room after school hours had been when things went wrong…

"Putting it that way makes it sound like everyone thinks I've turned a new leaf." Really, was it that hard to think that Ron Stoppable could do well if he put his mind to it?

Mr. Barkin shrugged at the idea. "Most do. People went from lamenting a good student who never applied himself to seeing someone who could score a B- on an algebra test while still thinking he failed. You have changed, and I think that Hunting Vampires has helped you make a turn for the better."

"Well, thanks? I don't think what I've done is that amazing though..." There wasn't much more to be said. It was honestly kind of embarrassing.

"It is, Stoppable. I think that you could do great things as a Hunter and as a leader. It reminds me of myself when I was younger," Eugh, everyone knew teachers started out at thirty and only got older, " and more to the point everything you've done so far has shown an impressive amount of aptitude for this job. With that in mind, I would like to talk to you about two opportunities I have considered opening up to you."

He paused before rifling under the desk and pulling out a pistol?! You weren't even allowed to think of someone bringing them into schools, much less watching a teacher you knew and sort-of respected to pull one out right in front of you! You almost flipped the chair back and started running the moment he pulled it out. With a chuckle Mr Barkin put the thing on the table.

"There's no need to panic. It's unloaded and I have the safety on. Your reaction was good, though. You should always treat a gun like it can kill someone, even if you know it's empty. Considering the club we have is for hunting, I will be opening my schedule on the weekends to include courses in basic gun safety and use. On the surface, it sounds like a responsible teacher giving students the basic foundation to hunt things like deer. In reality, I'd expect you use them for more dangerous prey. The second opportunity is a bit less open, but it's still one I think you should consider. You know career day is coming up soon?"

You nodded, who didn't want to go be the one to go meet with the lady whose job it was to make delicious pastries or cooked the best food? Really, anything chef would be pretty awesome to go see and shadow.

"Well, I've been keeping contact with an old friend of mine who has been very interested in the formation of your group. The two of us have talked a lot and he seemed more than happy to volunteer to work with you on career day if you so choose. Now you will get to make that choice as there have been a few rather… interesting clients asking about you but I ask you consider the offer given. I know Captain Black would love to work with a bright young Hunter such as yourself. Now, I'd like it if you help me plan out the meeting on Thursday..."

Well, you did suggest the group meet so it was only fair you helped him out. Dang, and you thought you'd be able to get some nacos after this was done...

XxX

Kim stared at her open Locker, at the mug shots and the computer and wondered where things had gone wrong.

Kim's week... hadn't gone so well. To recap, Wade had finally found out what Drakken was up to. He'd been having trouble lately with his parents for some reason and hadn't been in contact as much, but he'd still figured things out and gotten ahold of her. Unfortunately, Ron hadn't been able to come with, and things had gone bad. She couldn't remember the last time that happened.

It had been a complete disaster. Shego and Drakken had gotten away, and Project Phoebus had been totally destroyed. She still didn't know what that thing did, but she really hoped it wasn't anything too dangerous. To top things off, Ron's weirdness had kicked into overdrive!

Usually, this close to Halloween, he would have said something! Especially after the debacle last year with the Hephaestus Project, and the lying, and Josh Mankey. Instead, Kim hadn't heard a peep about trick or treating. It was almost like he wasn't planning to spend Halloween together, which would be majorly freaksome. Maybe he was still messed up because of that Monkey Haunted House they'd gone to last week? He'd been so sure he could handle it, but then he'd been so utterly freaked out afterwards... Kim would have to ask when she had a chance.

If she had a chance...

Which only sent her spinning back into a depression, because seriously, this whole mess was Not Cool. She'd never failed a mission like this before! And Ron was getting so distant that even when he wasn't there Shego could see it! SHEGO!

She'd even seen a picture of him with Bonnie of all people in a bikini. BONNIE! They hated each other! He'd just said it was something for a club, and what was all that about, Ron and Bonnie in the same Club? What in the world did those two have in common?! What was going on with him?!

Kim sighed. Really, she should fix this the way she fixed things last Halloween, with honesty, but she just wasn't in the mood. Maybe next week, when things were a bit less raw and she wasn't so stressed out. Closing her locker she turned to go to class. Hopefully things would look better later. She held her head up, of course they would!

Anything was Possible for a Possible!  
Including Failure.  
xXx

Wednesday night came around faster than you thought possible. Kim came in on Tuesday pretty beat up but otherwise okay around you. She said the mission was rough, and that things really didn't go as planned but she was pretty sure everything was totally okay since Wade hadn't come to either of them screaming about Drakken suddenly unleashing his most destructive doomlaser/weathmachine/self-destructing device yet. It was depressing to see her at anything but her best though, and you hoped that she'd get better. It was one mission gone wrong, it wasn't really the end of the world.  
Elsewhere, a pale skinned black haired woman wearing a lot of green sneezed loudly  
As cheer practice ended and the students departed, you waited in the Cafeteria with Mr Barkin and Brick, whose football practice ended ten minutes earlier. As Bonnie and Tara made it into the room, Mr. Barkin began to speak.

"On Friday, the five of us will be going to hunt a Vampire. You are all here because the best way to guarantee no one here gets hurt is to make sure everyone knows what they'll be doing. Of course, that requires a solid plan of action." He motioned for you to continue, just like he said he would on Monday.

"Well, there's two ways we can realistically do this. He's a vampire, so we need to stake him. That means we'll need to go into his house. The real question is how we do it. We can try to sneak in, being as quiet as we possibly can until we find the guy in his bed and hopefully asleep before we kill him really quickly with a stake to the heart. However if he catches us we're in trouble since we need to pack lightly if we don't want to get caught. On the other hand, we can break in forcefully and just try to whack him as hard as we can. It's more dangerous than just going in there but we'll be better equipped for the fight since we won't be trying to sneak."

Mr Barkin took control again. "For any of these options, Ms Strong will be the one ready to get us out if things go wrong," Tara sighed and sagged back in relief before she realized what she was doing and straightened up again, "Stoppable, Rockwaller, Flagg and I will all be doing the majority of the fighting should it come to that. Any questions?" Out of all the people, Bonnie raised her hand.

"Uhh, why do we have to do either of those? I mean, Vampires get killed by stakes, but you told me they also don't like sunlight. Why don't we just bring him outside?" Mr Barkin shook his head.

"That's not possible. We can't trick the enemy into going outside and he won't just do it by himself. Unless you want to burn the house down, that's not really a working strategy." She shrugged at his rebuttal.

"Why don't we? I mean, it's not like there's anyone else living in there right? The Vampire dies, nobody gets hurt." She was right, no matter how crazy that sounded. It would work, though you couldn't help but feel she was missing something.

"Won't the cops come if they hear about a house burning down?" The last thing you wanted to do to Kim this week was having to explain to her why exactly you'd been put in the slammer for arson if you got caught. That would not be a fun way to celebrate Halloween at all.

"It is a viable way to go about this and if we can get out fast enough then they won't be a problem anyway."

"It could work, and I can get enough gas to light the place if that's how we want to go about it. However, it is Stoppable's choice seeing as he is the leader here." Everyone looked over to you.

"So how are we going to do this?"

 **[X] Go Fiery:** Even less subtle than going loud, Mr. Barkin said he could get his hands on some gasoline to light the entire house up if that was the way you wanted to go. It would keep everyone out of harm's way but the cops will be coming if a house is one fire. The big concern here would be getting out before they find us.

Loadout: Mr Barkin- Rifle, Bonnie- Gas can/stake, Ron- Gas can/stake, Brick- Gas can/stake, Tara- Flare Gun  
Danger- Low  
Subtlety: Non-Existent


	11. The First Hunt- Slash and Burn

"We're going to go with Bonnie's plan." It made sense, no matter how crazy you found setting a building on fire sounded. It was the safest way to deal with the Vampire no matter what, and you didn't have enough information to figure out any different solutions. Sure, going in guns blazing did have a really nice feel to it but in the end you didn't want anyone else to get hurt when that fight broke out. So you'd stick with the safest but most obvious solution for now.

It wasn't like you trusted yourself to fight a Vampire in hand to hand combat either. That was more the realm of actual trained fighters like Kim and Shego. You were just the idiot that pushed buttons and ran away before the stuff exploded. It was what you were good for here, and watching the enemy's plan go up in flames was enough for you.

So you were going to do just that. Barkin seemed resigned but amused at the whole idea, while Bonnie was obviously pleased with herself. Tara seemed even more relieved than when you said she wouldn't be directly participating in the fight. Brick seemed disappointed but even then it wasn't by much. Of course, now that you'd gotten the plan laid out, you had to figure out the kinks.

Like how to get around the cops. Well, you could ask Wade for something to block cell phones with but… nah, you could probably do that without having too many questions asked. He trusted you and if you said you were doing something good he'd probably believe you. It was better than simply leaving Tara to drive you and hope the cops didn't catch on. WIth that solved, you moved on to the really important issue.

"Okay, so what are you guys wearing for Haloween?"

XxX

You'd considered going over to his house, but intruding into Wade's Den of Technology didn't strike you as the best way to get him to do you a favor. Instead, you'd gone with tried and true telephone. Sure, it was no Kimmunicator, but it didn't need to be.

"So, uh, hey Wade," you said into the phone, "I have a favor I wanted to ask you."

You can almost hear Wade blink over the line, "Sure, Ron, what do you need?"

"OK, so this is going to sound really sketchy, but I swear I have a good reason," you say hurriedly.

"Maybe lead with the reason instead of the excuse next time man," Wade says good naturedly, "What's up?"

"Well, it's like this. You know how those pictures of me with Bonnie keep getting put up everywhere?"

"Yeah? Why is with that anyway? Didn't you say, and I quote, "Our hatred is both mutual and bottomless" unquote? I think I still have the sound file you made me record of that..."

"OK, YES, I do not like Bonnie and she does not like me. Unfortunately, we're part of the same club now. Mister B set up the whole Hunting Club as one of those 'Unlock your True Potential' things. Bonnie tagged along because Tara and Brick got roped into it after I did, and she didn't want to leave them alone with me."

"Makes sense so far, but I'm not seeing what you need from me, man."

"OK, so, Brick's cool right? I'm actually friendly with a dude besides you! It's great! Even if he does have super weird taste in girlfriends. But there's a problem! For some reason, every time the club does something where I'm around Bonnie we get photographed by everyone and her brother. There's these crazy rumors running around me and Bonnie dating because of it! It's Sick! SICK AND WRONG!"

"OK," Wade drawls, "Still not hearing what you need, Ron."

"Right," you cut to the chase, "so I need something that'll knock out the cellphones around it for a while. I do not want another photo op causing more rumors!"

"Ron!" Wade shouts, "Something like that would be completely unethical, borderline illegal, and totally irresponsible to use!"

"So can you do it?"

"Of COURSE I can do it! It'll be in your locker by the end of the day!"

"OK, THANKS WADE!" you yell, before a sudden thought occurs to you, "And uh please don't tell Kim, she's already got weird thoughts in her head about the whole Bonnie SItuation and we don't need her freaking out any more over it. BYE!"

You hang up before he can respond and nod to yourself. Everything's coming up Ron!

xXx

...You were beginning to hate the smell of gasoline. You knew it was only twenty minutes but the stink was everywhere in the small minivan Tara was driving. It felt… criminal and wrong but you knew you could deal with it. You had to, no matter how absurd the situation looked. Two ninjas (Tara had excellent taste in costumes), one Zombie knight with really well done makeup, a princess in a gold and black ball gown and one incredibly uncomfortable substitute teacher did make for one incredibly strange group even without counting the three red cans in the back stinking up the vehicle.

The Sun had passed it's high point an hour ago, around the time you'd gotten the text from Tara saying she was on her way to pick you up. The next forty minutes comprised of her picking up the rest of the group, from the Flagg house in Middleton, the Rockwaller's mansion in the Upperton and finally Mr. Barkin's Lowerton Apartment. Once you were all there, the five of you finally made your way to the house. Thirty minutes later, you finally rolled up to the place. Looking at it, you wondered whether this Vampire was dumb or just liked traditions. It screamed "HEY GUYS BAD THINGS HAPPEN HERE" from the dusty appearance to the broken windows and what you could swear was a bloodstain on the door-frame. Really, he could have chosen so many places that were better and still abandoned. Was he trying to have some plucky group of heroes come in and end him?

Oh, wait. That was you. Well, his housing choices were at least partially to blame for this. Nobody ever firebombed nice, neatly kept 4-bedroom suburban family ranches. Stepping out of the van, you took one of the gas cans from the back and opened it up. The fumes hit you straight on, and you could feel yourself getting lightheaded before you pointedly held the can away from your nose. God this stuff was nasty. Behind you, Bonnie and Brick did something similar before walking toward two different walls of the house. Mr Barkin pulled out a rifle he'd been assembling while you drove that you were really sure wasn't legal before crouching down behind a bush. With everyone ready to go, you went in front of the porch and started pouring the flammable liquid onto the wooden frame. It came down in splashes, and you took care to make sure none of it hit your foot as it soaked into the building. Making sure to get as thorough of a path as you could, you walked over the entire front of the house while you poured the gasoline down.

But you weren't sure that would get enough to torch the entire place. No, you needed to go in there and get a little bit of it if you wanted to be sure and you did have half left. Luckily, the door was opened already (really, you'd seen some of Drakken's lairs with better security) and you walked through it without many issues. Taking care, you tiptoed down the dimly lit hallway while pouring the liquid into the hardwood floor. You found yourself nearing what looked to be a staircase when you heard murmuring from above. Turning to see if you could spot the noise, you almost missed the small thunk as your gas can swung around with your arm. Looking back as if the world was in slow motion, you watched as a vase made it's way to the ground where you could only wince a-

*CRASH*

Real smooth, Ron. Real smooth. Turning around, you could hear the commotion as whatever it was upstairs jumped out of bed and came barreling down toward you. You'd already started to run toward the door when you heard a thunk at the bottom of the stairs. Looking back, you saw the man, though this time you could make out his features. A rough leather jacket, jeans and an incredibly angry faces complemented his claws and fangs as the Vampire began to run for you. With feet to go to the door, you could only scream.

"LIGHT IT NOW! LIGHT IT NOW!"

Your yells were matched by a burst of green as the flames ignited and OH LORD THEY WERE FOLLOWING THE GASOLINE TO YOU. Even more panicked than before, you crashed through the open door out into the sunlight. On the street, you saw Tara starting up the car as everybody else piled in. Behind you the Vampire stopped at the doorframe, screaming in frustration at the sunlight beyond it.

That was when the rest of the house caught fire, so anything else was quickly muffled by the roar of the flames as they consumed everything within reach. As you jumped into the van, you saw Brick fumbling with the device Wade had given you, whacking it a few times before you heard a beeping response that you assumed meant it was working. With no one else to chase you, Tara slowed down from 20 miles above the limit to a more normal pace as you left the scene of the crime. Not noticing the small brown car following your trail.

An hour later, the five of you stopped in front of Middleton High School's building, each one of you getting out. Once you'd finally realized everything was over, you collapsed onto the ground and looked toward the sky. As if a weight had been taken off of your shoulders, you started laughing. You didn't really get it yourself, but soon enough everyone had joined in with the exception of Mr. Barkin who looked at you all with a mix of emotions you didn't care to analyze on his face.

You'd done it. You'd killed a vampire. You saved people tonight, just like you did with Kim.

It felt good to think that.

Jumping to your feet, you looked over the rest of the group before turning back to the van and grabbing the small orange bag you'd left there. With a flourish, you opened up the plastic jack-o-lantern bag and began to walk off.

"Where are you going Ron?" Tara asked, catching up to you, she looked down at the small plastic bag in curiosity.

"I'm going to go trick-or-treating." Yeah, they could laugh all they want. It was tradition and you'd carry it on even if Kim thought you were getting too old for it. The people of Middleton loved to see what costume you'd had next, and Mankey, for all the guy unsettled you, was great at getting hauls of candy when you hit people up last year.

"Oh, cool! Let me come with you!" Tara said, as she grabbed your arm and ignored the look of utter shock under your mask. Really the only thing that co-

"You guys are going trick-or-treating? Count me in!" Brick's armor-clad zombie body went up next to you, one of your special reserve bags in hand. Looking back you saw Bonnie stand there alone looking at the three of you in about as much shock as you, really. Mr. Barkin had taken the opportunity to bow out, probably catching a bus back to Lowerton. As you turned back, your greatest rival let out an explosive sigh before heading back toward you.

"Okay, if anyone asks I'm only doing this because you two are," she pointed at Brick and Tara, "I don't associate with bread mold over here." Hey! You thought one Vampire kill would make you a bit better than bread mold? Maybe overripe apple or something?

Never mind that though, you had candy to get!

XxX

Three hours and one very full bag of sweets later, you began your walk back home. It started rocky, yeah, what with Bonnie being… Bonnie and Brick being pretty old himself you found yourself getting shut doors on a lot of occasions. However, once Bonnie got her hands on a 100 grand bar she lightened up a little bit and Brick started performing little skits with you to attract attention and get a bit more candy. Who didn't want to see a ninja failing to fight off a zombie in full plate?

By the time the first hour was over you'd hit your stride and soon the candy starting flowing into your bag like a river of sweet, sweet sugar. Once they'd finally gotten tired of ringing doorbells and asking for the good stuff you'd gotten a haul only comparable to the time yo and Kim dressed up as two cowboys making a horse costume and that one really only won because you both were seven (no matter how awesome it was). With a pep to your step, you sauntered back home ready to devour your day's worth of loot with Rufus. The poor guy hated being kept home, but nothing scared away candy givers more than a naked mole rat. Really, everyone mistook him for some sort of nasty, common rat that were so below a great pet of his caliber. You'd have to give him an extra payday to molli-

"Hello, Sidekick." OH CRAP SHEGO?!

Flailing wildly you watched as your day's worth of loot flew into the nearby yard as you looked for the punch you knew was coming. Once you were convinced it wasn't, you hastily clambered on the ground to retrieve your precious sugary goo-

*HOOOOONK*

Okay, no matter how much she was laughing that was very much not funny. Picking yourself up from the pavement you just kissed on accident, you looked up to see a totally not-Shego car parked on the sidewalk right next to you. Against all odds, the nondescript brown sedan somehow contained the villainess, though frankly you were more surprised she wasn't trying to beat the tar out of you right now. Collecting your last bit of candy, you walked up to the window to figure out why you weren't currently a smear on the pavement.

"Uhh, hi Shego. What do yo-"

"Get in the car." Uhh, what? This wasn't how these things went. You said something, she walked out and beat you up while Kim came to rescue you either now or after she'd thrown you in Drakken's latest lair. You didn't just skip that part! It wasn't right!

"Bu-"

"Get in the car Sidekick. We need to talk." Yeah, something was definitely off about this whole thing, and really you only had one response pounded into your head by years of public education.

"... I need an adult."

"I am an adult, you idiot. Now get in the car before I have to come out there and drag you in." Okay, no matter how much you cared for the conventions of traditional villainy, you weren't Senor Senior and you didn't really want to get your butt kicked in. With as few motions as possible you opened the passenger's side door and sat down in the seat. Once you put on your seat belt, she began to drive. You sat there awkwardly for a few minutes before finally mustering up the courage to speak to the woman who could kill you in 24 different ways.

"Soooooooo, you wanted to talk? What about?"

"Well, I was going to give you a bunch of points about how working with me could make your life better and then use some secrets I had to blackmail you into helping me but I think you just gave me more ammunition than I need, Mr budding arsonist." But wait, how did sh-

"Oh right, green flames."

"Bingo. Now, normally I'd have a lot of questions about why exactly Kim Possible's 'famous' sidekick was burning down buildings that should be abandoned but I think I have better uses for my time." Oh come on, she didn't have to put the air quotes around famous?! You were well known, Kim Possible's sidekick, self-destruct button pusher like no other! Sure, no one got your name right, but a lot of people recognized your face when you were next to Kim!

"From what I've gathered, what you're doing isn't going to be a one time thing." Okay, when exactly did she get this perceptive? You knew she was the brains of the operation with Drakken but she really shouldn't be able to jump to logical conclusions like that?!

"By the way your face went really dumb when I said that, my guess was right," drat, she played you like a maraca, "I want in."

…

…

"Waahhhhhh."

No, really, this made less sense than Bonnie joining up?! I mean, why would SHEGO OF ALL PEOPLE want to help you!? Wait. She wouldn't. This was so obviously a trick, meant to lull you into a false sense of security so she could lure the vampires to you and make money! Of course, it made sense now! Heck, she must be one too!

"DIE, VAMPIRE SHEGO!" Before she could react you grabbed for the stake strapped under your sleeve and jammed it straight for her heart.

The car swerved as she inevitably caught the wooden piece and wrapped her fingers tightly enough around your wrist that you were forced to drop the small spike. You found your face being greeted with the green glow of plasma as the car slowly stopped at the sidewalk.

"Did you or did you not just try to murder me, Sidekick?" Her voice was a low growl, and as you desperately searched for an answer you threw out the one thing that came to mind after that.

"Did I actually get that close to killing you?" It was actually kind of impressive, if you did say so yourself. With an angry sigh, she clenched her fists in front of your face. "OHJEEZIDIDIMSORRYPLEASEDONTKILLME!"

"Good enough, Sidekick," and with that she lowered the glowing hands, "now, what was this you were saying about vampires? They're not real, you know?"

"THEY TOTALLY ARE! I even finished hunting one when I, well you were there for that, you know what happened!" It was like she couldn't see that the guy who attacked you was so obviously a vampire it wasn't even funny.

She rolled her eyes in response. "Fine, well if you want some help hunting these 'vampires'-

"Monsters" Hey, you had to make sure that she got it right if what Mr. Barkin said was true.

"-whatever, then I would be willing to help you out on one condition." Okay, you were about to try with the second stake if she offered out of the blue again. Shego didn't just do stuff for free, that's not how she worked.

"What condition, then?" It would be great to have someone as skilled as her on your side, no matter how much you detested the thought. And couldn't trust her. And wait, was this such a good idea?

"Simple, you let me in and I'll help you fight these 'monsters'. However if I join up you don't tell Princess about what you're doing. Ever. Capisce?" Okay, that was honestly a much lower price than you'd expected. It's not like you were really totally on board with letting KP in on this when you almost got killed today while committing a major felony, but then again…

"Now, I know you're thinking 'why should I trust Shego?' and you're right, you can't. I am getting something out of this deal - given I get to fight things that I'm totally allowed to burn into small little bits without risking the cops pulling me over for murder and that is something I have not done in a looong time on Drakken's paycheck." Okay, that is a Shego motivation and it made a twisted bit of sense considering who she is…

"Just know that A) I'm much more capable than any of your little posse right now. I'd be able to fight anything you do head on and win, B) I'm willing to do anything to win, and if you ever ask Kimmie she won't with her morals and all, C) I'd be willing to help train you to fight these things if you don't mind working with me, and D) I'm better than Kim anyway. So you're the one getting the good deal here, Sidekick."

What's it going to be Hunter Boy?

[X] Take the Deal (Gain Shego as a Hunter for Missions only, able to interact with her socially, cannot recruit Kim Possible as a Hunter)

 **Tactic gained: [Vampire-Slash and Burn]: Sometimes the simplest solution to a puzzle is to break the thing. Sometimes the easiest way to beat a Vampire is to burn their house down and force them into the sunlight. Its the same principle, really.**

 **Achievement gained- Close Encounters of the Fang Kind: Fight your first monster and live to tell the tale! Reward: Dex Stat fully unlocked.**


	12. Week 4- The AFtermath

"You're right. I could use someone like you, Shego." It made a very strange amount of sense, actually. You needed people who could fight toe to toe with creatures like vampires, and Shego fit that category completely. Sure, you could have told Kim but there was no real chance of her believing your story if you'd told her again. Heck, maybe it would be for the best if you didn't stress her out with one more thing on top of it everything else to pile on her plate.

Yeah, this was for the best.

To your left, Shego was busy jotting something into a small notepad with a victorious smirk written into her face. She shoved the small piece of paper to you, containing a small cell phone number along with an extension with the word UNTRACEABLE written in very large letters and underlined five times. You folded the note, making sure not to damage the thing as you put it into your pocket. After that she began to drive again, taking a route back to crystal springs that you knew would take you to your place. It was kind of creepy that she knew where you lived, but then again she probably knew where Kim did too…

That didn't help you feel any better either. She kept going until you were a few blocks away from the house before stopping. With a click, the doors on the car unlocked and she motioned for you to leave. As you stepped out of the car, she gave you a sinister smile.

"Thanks for letting me in on your little operation, Sidekick. You don't know how glad I am you've given me this chance. Just remember to stick to your part of the deal." At that, she drove away with a lollipop in her mou-

HEY! That was one of yours! Stupid villains, always taking other people's stuff. Stolen candy aside, you were happy enough with your haul. It was pretty great for a single Halloween, and the only regret you had right now was that you hadn't been able to invite Kim to go with you on your rounds, but then again you didn't really want to explain why the four of you smelled like gasoline and heck, that was why you'd been avoiding the whole house in for the first time on a Halloween!

Sniffing yourself, you figured you'd had enough time to air out that they wouldn't tell and it would be nice to check up on them. Heck, maybe Kim was home so you could hit the last few houses on the way! She'd probably have the coolest costume ever now that she didn't have to pair them with yours. You knew she wouldn't be caught dead wearing this cool suit unless it had a really bright and apparent club banana sticker on it's rear which would defeat the entire purpose!

...And you'd been mentally ranting so long that you'd gotten up to the Possible House's porch. You actually felt kinda nervous right now, without Kim there to go help you. It felt like something was missing. Before you could turn away, the door swung open.

"Ron! I thought we missed you tonight! How'd the routes go?" The face of Mr Dr P greeted you, frazzled white hair and all. He looked to your side and you could see his smile fall slightly before he turned to you with a handful of candy ready. "I see Kimmy Cub's not with you again this year. Did something happen?" Yeah, straight to the point with the question you couldn't answer.

"Yeah, no. Maybe. Sort of…" Okay, the stare he was giving you was kind of creepy, "...answer unclear please try again later?" Wow, that was probably the weakest response you'd given anyone, ever!

"Really? I've heard Kim mention some pretty interesting rumors lately," Mrs Dr P came out from the kitchen where she was probably cleaning up after Jim and Tim came back from their run, "You've been doing well in school, Ron. I'm proud of you." Awww, shucks. You didn't think you'd be getting praise from them when you hadn't been doing that much. It was nice, if a bit awkward.

"Yes, and I'd really like to see how the two of you do on your next test," Mister Dr P puts in, "It would be great to see your improvements continue. I'd expect nothing less from Kim's best friend." Well, no pressure?

"What he's trying to say is that we're happy for you, and the progress you're making is astounding," Mrs Dr P said firmly, "Keep up the good work, Ron."

"Well, thanks Mrs Dr P! I'm glad you think I'm doing well and I hope I don't disappoint you Mr Dr P!" There wasn't much you could say beyond that. You didn't want to make things awkward and bringing up the elephant in the room would not be fun.

"So, I heard you were pulled out of a mission to have a talk about your priorities, Ron." Aaaand Mr P just went there anyway. "I hope that your newfound sense of responsibility doesn't get in the way of your obligations." Okay, it was only once!

"I won't, Mr. Dr. P! And I hope you guys have a happy Halloween!" You turned around, hoping what you said was a promise possible to keep.

XxX

The last thing you expected to see when you visited Mr Barkin's house for the club meeting was how… normal it was. Sure, you knew he was still a person but he was a teacher and a monster hunter! You still needed to figure out some more out about that whole thing...

But hey! There was a real sense of accomplishment in the room. Sure, it had involved arson, screaming terror, and an assault by a supervillain, but you'd done it! You'd successfully hunted and taken down a killer vampire! Brick had his usual smile on his face, Tara was positively giddy, and even Bonnie's face displayed an emotion beyond disdain for the world and everyone in it. Mister B wasn't even grimacing! His neutral expression was actually neutral for once!

"Alright, People," he said loudly, getting everyone's attention, "I've said it before, but I'll say it again, because you earned it. Congratulations. You took down a Vampire without any casualties and nothing more than a bit of collateral property damage." He shuffles his papers for a moment, "I took the precaution of keeping an eye on the police scanner after you all went Trick or Treating, and it seems whatever Stoppable's friend gave him worked perfectly. Response was delayed and the department chalked it up to a prank gone wrong on Halloween. We're in the clear," He paused and looked out at you all to make sure you were listening, "For now."

"So what, is that the best we can get?" Bonnie voiced the concern all of you had. Would you ever really be able to feel safe anymore, knowing what you did now? For once, Mr. Barkin's rigid features softened as he looked to you all.

"The reality is that this is your new life. You chose to become Hunters, and sleeping tonight with the knowledge that the Cops aren't coming and there's one less monster out there is sometimes the best you can get. That's what we're here for, to _ **Stop Those who Hurt Others, No Matter the Cost**_. We may not be heroes, but we're the only thing standing between innocents and the obituary. You all did well, and I'm proud of you."

It was humbling, to be certain. Just thinking of the man who yelled at you last month for forgetting your homework saying something like this to you was surreal. You knew he was right, on a deep level you understood that everything was different now. Of course, that didn't mean you couldn't enjoy the little things now and again.

And there was a large meat-lovers pizza that was calling your name.  
 **  
Achievement gained- And so my Watch Begins: Determine Ron Stoppable's vigil. Reward: Wit Stat fully unlocked.**

XxX

Hours later, following a marathon of crappy B horror movies which seemed funny in retrospect and even a few reruns of Mr. Barkin's favorite Fearless Ferret episodes which sparked a debate between him and Brick about the finer points of Timothy North's acting while you were off getting a slice of pizza. When you got back, you had to interject that the man playing Timothy was in fact very good, managing to capture the Ferret's heroic exploits of the time in a way you hoped somebody would cover KP's. It would be really cool if they used another real-life hero's adventures for a series, after all.  
Brick and Mister B share an odd look when you say that, but you don't notice it at all.  
Bonnie and Tara were busy playing ping-pong in another room though you could hear the cries of triumph and failure from where you were sitting. Enough attempts to play with Kim had taught you not to get in the middle of that, especially since you knew how competitive Bonnie was. You didn't feel like being destroyed right now, thank you very much.

More time passed as the Afternoon wore on and soon Bonnie left with Tara in tow, saying that there was a party downtown she was missing to be here. Tara gave the three of you left a wave before departing with her best friend. After the Fearless Ferret's Final Fight was played and finished, Brick concluded that now was his time to go. As you prepared to leave, Mr. Barkin stopped you.

"Stoppable, I would like to say that out of everyone you have exceeded my expectations beyond what I could have hoped for. I expect great things from you, but remember to take it easy. Next week shouldn't include anything about hunting Vampires or other monsters, you hear me?"

You nod in response. Yeah, you could use some downtime. It's been all work no play for the Ron man for the last few weeks! That's just not right! You don't regret it, but y'know, it's a big adjustment!

"In aide of that, and to help you build up your own network of contacts, I've signed you up for Middleton High's Pen Pal Program. You're going to be picking one of a number of nice young people that I've vetted from the list."

"I don't have any say in this, do I?" Mr. Barkin gave you an almost predatory smile.

"Well, Mr. Stoppable. I know exactly what you can do now, and I understand exactly how much you've been keeping yourself from excellence. This would be an opportunity for both extra credit and a way to show the faculty at Middleton High that you've turned a new leaf. So I'd suggest you think about it and get back to me once you've made your decision."

Yup, no choice. Well, there was no time like the present to get this done. You took the four envelopes with the schools' names printed neatly in block letter, ready to figure out who would be you new buddy for the next year.

 **Choose one:**  
[X] Casper High School, Minnesota

After that, you had to figure out what exactly you were doing next week, what with all the time off.  
 **  
Major Category - Team Action (Choose one)**

[X] Home on the Range: Well, Mr. Barkin apparently wasn't kidding around when he said he'd personally take the four of you out to learn the basics of gunwork. It would take more than a week to get everyone on the same page and up to snuff, but having the ability to use guns would be incredibly useful, no matter how much you knew Kim would say having actual combat skills like MMA would be so much better.

 **Major Category - Free Time (Choose Two)**

[X] Call Me Beep Me. You really could stand to spend some more time with Kim, and that's not Mr. Dr. P's passive aggressive Halloween speech talking! Focus on Kim, hit a movie, hang out, and if a mission comes up? You are not flaking this time!

[X] We're still getting Extra Credit for this, Right? So, you spent some time with Mister B, and it wasn't like torture! You even have an idea of what he wants from you, your complete and utter best. Hard to begrudge him that when you're hunting homicidal monsters. You do want to ask though, how does he know all this? And does he have any advice for how you can do better at this whole... hunter thing?


	13. Week 5- Guns and Robots

You took time to examine the envelopes, knowing that this was a pretty important decision. You were choosing a friend. Beyond that you were choosing to make a contact with someone who Mr. Barkin thought was worth talking to. It was only right that you give them the same amount of consideration he did.

The first one, from Yamanouchi in Japan was very well kept. With what you could only assume was Japanese written on the right side and english in the center. It all looked very official and cool. You did want to go there but when you looked back at the letter you couldn't help but be drawn to the intricate characters written on the paper.

You couldn't understand a single one, and it would be a huge amount of work to learn Japanese. Not matter how cool it was, you didn't really feel like putting that much work into this. It was making a friend, not actually going there. Heck, it would probably go to someone who cared about that stuff more. Pass.

The next letter was from a place called Casper high school in Minnesota. The writing was pretty neat, in cursive that you could read and understand even better than Kim's too! It wasn't very decorated or anything, but it was clean and professional. The pers-

Wait, were you seriously analyzing unopened letters to understand people? That just seemed like you were jumping to conclusions crazy bad here. You could be totally wrong about the person from the assumptions you were making and you had no idea what the letters held anyway! Why do more work when you just needed to select one of them? The one in your hand is good enough.

"I'll take this one, Mr. Barkin." You waved the letter in his face.

"...Are you sure you don't want to check out the others first, Mr. Stoppable?" Oh, sure. Of course the teacher would support observing yourself into insanity! No, this was where you drew the line. Ron Stoppable was many things, but one thing he was not was obsessive over tiny details.

"No, this is the one I'll take. I don't want to be the guy who looks at letters and tries to tell people what the person meant when they sent it. Leave that to English teachers, please." You stood your ground, folding your arms up to glare at Mr. Barkin. He glared back for a few more seconds, before simply facepalming.

"Whatever you say. Now take it easy this week, Stoppable." He walked with you to the door, before opening it for you. As you stepped out, you turned back to him.

"You know the thing you talked to me about last week? You know," You made a gun with your hands and did a little 'pew pew' noise to convey what you meant, "could you start organizing lessons for this week's meeting? I think it would help a lot."

"Understood Stoppable. Have a nice night." Yeah, you would. It had been so long since you'd gotten alone time that you knew what you needed to do.

There was a fearless Ferret marathon playing in the movie theaters right now, and you could totally catch the Rabid Racoon's Return if you got there in thirty minutes! You'd make it if you ran, and it's not like you needed popcorn today since you'd already eaten. You thought of inviting Kim to go with you, but then again she was never really a Movie Marathon fan… She'd probably thank you later to not subjecting her to something she didn't like. It was for the best, really.

She wouldn't have wanted to go if you'd asked her. Maybe you'd see something good when you got there to call her about later. You made it in record time, going at a light jog you managed the entire thing in around 20 minutes when you usually did it in 35. You took the time to check for the listings before going to the ticket booth. Really, all of it was to get around having to deal with Lamar. Stupid slimy hands and nasally voic-

"Can I help you?"

Okay, that was very much not Lamar. The Female not-Lamar stared at you, waiting for you to say something?

"Uhh, I'd like one ticket for the Rabid Racoon's Return," Oh, she's totally cute! You've got to say something, ANYTHING, "I'd ask if you want to go with me to the movies, but here we are."

But here we are, BUT HERE WE ARE?! WHAT KIND OF LINE WAS THAT? Oh dear god, she's raising an eyebrow at you, she thinks you're an idiot…

"Here you go, sir. Enjoy the show, Ser Cheesy Lines." She said it with a mocking nod, trying to stifle the derisive laughter you knew she had coming for your pathetic excuse for a pickup line. What's worse was that your own misery drowned out the movie's best parts. You couldn't even binge eat popcorn since you didn't order any and there was no way you were buying the overpriced abomination that was theater candy. You only left with the solace that you found a fun-looking movie you were pretty sure Kim would love to go to later. Heck, knowing her she'd probably bring Monique.

Walking home while trying to ignore the growing pit in your stomach was really, really hard! Especially when you remembered the letter you'd received that, given your luck, was made by a cute girl! And it wasn't like you could just not open it, Mr. Barkin would give you his 'I'm disappointed but unsurprised look' that you hadn't received for a month now, and didn't ever really want to see again! Once you got home, Rufus was already sound asleep in his home with a pile of candy wrappers serving as his new bed. As he continued to snooze, you turned on your desk light- the one you never used- and opened up the small letter.

Hello pen pal! My name is Jasmine Fenton and it is very nice to meet you!

I live in Casper high, Minnesota, am presently a sophomore in Highschool, and am hoping to attend college at Minnesota State University for psychology.

Really, anything to get me away from my whacky parents would be nice. My mother and father are self-proclaimed "ghost hunters" who spend their lives making stupid gadgets that don't ev-

Okay, I was getting ahead of myself there. Ignore the rant above please. I live in a family of four with my mother, father and little brother Danny. I really like trying to help figure out how people tick, when I'm not protecting my brother from Mom and Dad's crazy antics. I like reading a lot, and I'm hoping that this Pen Pal Program will help me be a good role model to Danny like Mr. Lancer says I should be. Being the only mature person in my family, I try to do the best I can to protect my little brother, even if he thinks I'm being overbearing.

My favorite subject in school is science, especially stuff like philosophy and anthropology. Physics and Chemistry are also great, but whenever I get into those Dad comes in and talks about joining the family team, which is… what it is.

I'd like to get to know you, pen pal. So I've constructed a list of questions my textbooks say will help me really determine what type of person you are.

1\. What's your name? Mine's Jazz, if you didn't already get that.  
2\. Where do you live? Amity Park, Minnesota.  
3\. What is your hobby? Reading, but I already said that.  
4\. What is your favorite color? Turquoise, of course.  
5\. What food do you like most? Vanilla ice cream with sprinkles.  
6\. What is your favorite movie? The diary.  
7\. What's your favorite season? Winter.  
8\. What's your favorite animal? Ponies.  
9\. Do you believe in ghosts? No. Nope. Nada. Zilch. No way.  
10\. Who is your favorite historical figure? Carl Jung

It's very nice to meet you,  
Jasmine Fenton

P.S. Since you're my pen pal, you can call me Jazz

Okay, that was a pretty good letter. And of course she sounded like a cute girl, if a little boring. But you'd said you would go through with this to Mr. B, so you would. Taking out a sheet of paper, you began to write.

Hey Jazz. It's really nice to meet you. My name is Ron Stoppable, though you may know me as Kim Possible's sidekick. If not, well, I am. Not Rock Plausible, not Rain Palindrome, not Roy Stumpable. Ron Stoppable. Sorry, it's just that people seem to have trouble remembering my name.

Kim and I go to Middleton High School in Middleton, Colorado. It's part of the Tri-city area, of Upperton, Middleton, and Lowerton.

My family consists of me, my dad and my mom. They're not really that interesting. Dad's an actuary, he does risk analysis for Insurance Companies, Mom's an office manager at one of the aerospace companies here in Middleton that grew up around the Space Center. They don't sound as fun as your parents do, but they're still really good parents.

Now, for the part I know you want to hear: Kim. She's the coolest best friend ever, and it's pretty close to true that she can do anything. I know you want to meet her, so if you want to I can get something you want signed for free! That'd probably be the only cool thing I could do for you

Well, that was getting depressing. On to your questions then.

1\. What's your name? Stoppable, Ron Stoppable. Please remember it.  
2\. Where do you live? Middleton, Colorado.  
3\. What is your hobby? Being Kim's distraction.  
4\. What is your favorite color? Auburn.  
5\. What food do you like most? Naco's! I invented them! They're Delicious!  
6\. What is your favorite movie? Fearless Ferret Fights Fire! Look, I know it's the weirdest one but Dark Mamil playing the Jester was too good to pass up.  
7\. What's your favorite season? Christmas season.  
8\. What's your favorite animal? Naked Mole Rats. I even have one!  
9\. Do you believe in ghosts? I'm the sidekick to a teenage international adventurer. I've seen some weird stuff I couldn't explain, so I can't really say whether I do or I don't.  
10\. Who is your favorite historical figure? STEEL TOE

I hope you've gotten a good impression of me from this. Have a badical day,  
Ron Stoppable

P.S. I'm pretty sure you're a girl, and probably a cute one given my luck, so I've got to ask. Can you give me some advice on asking people out? It's pretty important here. Thanks in advance!

With that finished, you finally retired to your bed, ready to confront your problem tomorrow.

XxX

Monday, the most evil day of the week! The first day of school, when weekends die! Put simply, you didn't like Mondays. Especially Mondays after you massively flame out at asking a girl who is ridiculously hotter than you to go on a date. Really, if you weren't doing this whole 'responsible' thing you might have skipped! Well, that, and Kim would know if you tried. She knew you way too well, to the point that you just knew she was going to ask why you're so bummed as soon as you had a moment to yourselves.

"Why are you so bummed Ron?" See!

"Ah, I don't know KP. I guess it's just The Rules getting me down," you replied sadly, staring at the lockers.

"Rules?" Kim asked with a raised eyebrow as she opened her locker to put her books away.

"Yeah KP, you know, the unwritten rules by which society organizes itself! Like the beautiful blondes going for wild men, or me never ever getting a date with a pretty girl. Ever."

"Ron, you can get a date with a pretty girl if you try."

"Yeah, I don't know KP. I did try! I was at the theater last night, and I asked out this really pretty girl." A thought occurred to you, "Hey, it was probably the stupid line I used! I need a better one! You got any advice for me Kim? What do girls like?"

Kim looked at you funny for a minute before sighing and smiling slightly at you. "OK," She says, "I can help. What was the stupid line you used?"

"I'd ask if you want to go with me to the movies, but here we are."

The corners of Kim's mouth turned up a bit in what is clearly a grimace, "Yeah, Ron, that's pretty cheesy."

"See! That's what she said! Well, she called me Ser Cheese anyway. Maybe that was a nickname? Is that a good thing Kim?!"

Before Kim could answer Wade appeared on the screen in her locker. "Kim," he yells, "Your dad needs your help!"

Alright, this is clearly your first priority. Dating advice can wait a bit.

It didn't take long for the two of you to make it to the Middleton Space Center, and you entered the lab to Mister Doctor P fiddling with some form of advanced technology.

"Ah, Kimmy, Ronald! Good to see you came so quickly!" he exclaimed, smiling as the two of you entered the room.

"What's the sitch, Dad?" Kim asked, straight to business.

"And what's with the awesome toy Mr Dr P?" It really was pretty cool, like some sort of laser maybe?.

"This isn't a toy Ronald," Mr Dr P replied, "This is the most powerful electromagnet in the world! We use it for testing and scientific purposes." He fiddled with the controls a bit more and the magnet turned to face you and Kim. "Isn't it cool?"

Yeah, you know where this is going. Fortunately, you planned ahead today! No more baggy pants on Missions! Mister B only had to use your loose fitting pants to trip you up seven times before you realized what a bad idea those were in a combat situation! Still, you do lose the change you've been keeping in your pockets.

"Badical!" you exclaimed because hey, it is! Super Science is cool! Mister Doctor P seemed satisfied with that and turned the magnet off, letting you move deftly to catch the loose change in your pocket when you held it open. Kim raised her eyebrows at that, but didn't comment on your awesome moves. The three of you continued on through a host of security measures as Mr Dr P gave you a rundown of the sitch.

It turns out that A) There's a Top Secret Unmanned Jupiter Mission, and B) Kim is way too good at inferring things. Like, you always knew she was smart, but she seriously wigged her dad out guessing stuff about the mission. You'll have to make sure she gets as little evidence as possible of what you're up to or you're going to be in big trouble.

Anyway, the Jupiter mission needs an advanced learning AI, because it'll be too far away for real time control via radio waves. Space is massively huge after all. Unfortunately for the Space Center though, the prototype AI for the project has been stolen! That could cause problems for everyone who works there! Funding cut, missions scrubbed, your mind was running through all the myriad ways things could go wrong, which was kind of weird since you always thought it went at a comfortable jog most of the time. Still, you kept your cool, because that's what you do.

Usually. Sometimes. Less than you'd like. You're glad that you can manage it though when you reach the robotics lab, because the staff roboticist, Dr Fen? He's... kinda terrible at his job. Seriously, within five minutes of meeting the guy you're already wondering why the Space Center hired him. He was being flung around his own lab by a bunch of robot arms. That was just sad.

It didn't take Kim long to find a clue. A strand of blonde hair next to the stolen robot's smashed case.

"Looking cluish there, KP!" You looked to Dr Fen, "Know any blondes Doc?"  
Wait, that jerk had some of my hair?!  
He turned to you, his face an angry mask. "Of course I do! My EX lab partner, Vivian Francis Porter! She was so terrible at her job that I had no choice but to fire her!" He stabbed a finger at a picture on his desk of a ridiculously hot blonde woman.  
Really, though I imagine it would be a-  
"Didn't I hear she quit?" Mr Dr P interjected.  
I knew Doctor Possible was nice.  
"Trust me, I didn't let the door hit her on the way out," Dr Fen replied, almost bitterly.  
That's because I had Ollie rip it from the hinges. By the way, how'd Mr. Possible like your 'redecorating', you toad?  
Ever quick to catch the hint, Kim voiced the question. "Well, do you have any idea where we could find her?"  
I don't even think he'd pay enough attention to fi-  
"She goes to something called a 'robot rumble'."  
Huh, looks like the stopped clock is right for once.  
Before you headed out to hunt down the Robo-nappers you had one important thing you needed to do.

"Hey, Mister Doctor P?" You asked, "This is gonna be a weird question, but I need advice, and you're a sorta fatherly figure to me." Kinda, if you squinted.  
Oooh, juicy secret for the noobie hunter? Yes, please.  
"Well, sure Ronald, what do you need?"

"Ah, um, I was trying to ask a pretty girl out," you started before catching the look on his face and remembering his previous threats about boyfriends, space probes, and black holes, "NOT KIM! NOT KIM!" The terrifying look went away and you continued, "Anyway, how do you ask a pretty girl out?"  
Well, that wasn't what I expected, but I can use this.  
Mister Doctor P gave you a bit of a stare at that, like he's trying to weigh your worth or something before he responds, "Ronald, just ask her. The worst a girl can say to you is no. Oh, she can say it in a very emotionally hurtful way that might scar you for life, but still, a no is just a no."

Gee, that was helpful. Not.

"Thanks, Mister Doctor P, that's... really helpful," you mumbled as you head out the door to follow Kim to the Robot Rumble.  
Well, time to make sure they get in. Wouldn't want to be implicated for a crime I didn't commit, after all.

XxX

It doesn't take long before you're standing in a darkened alley in downtown Middleton with Kim's cousin Larry. Kim had given him a call as the nerdiest person she knew, which you guessed was fair since you'd spent the last few weeks hunting the undead instead of watching sci-fi. Larry gave you a whole spiel about the Rumble and what it's all about. These guys were a bit heavier duty than you'd thought, because they've got a secret elevator, and a secret underground rail system. Man, secret tunnels, robot fighting, high tech espionage, this was the best mission ever!

As the electro-train-car sped along to the Robot Rumble you briefly considered asking cousin Larry for dating advice, before smacking yourself upside the head. Nobody's that desperate. He did give you some valuable information about Vivian Sarah Porter and her wild man boyfriend Oliver. You gestured at Kim when he said that, mouthing the words "The Rules!" She just rolled her eyes at you and shook her head. The car reached its destination shortly after that, and Larry clambered out first.

"Alright cousin," he said, "I'm going to let you in. Please don't do anything to embarrass me in front of the club!"

You lept out of the cart and landed next to Larry before leaning on the wall next to what looked to be an advanced lock and sensor setup. You've seen enough of them in supervillain lairs to recognize the type.  
OK, when and where did Ron get that coordinated?!  
"Come on Larry," you said to him, "This is Kim Possible. She's the definition of Cool."

Larry muttered in begrudging agreement, but before he could step up to the sensors, they reacted by themselves.

"Welcome, guest member account 0." Okay, weird. Still, no use looking a gift horse in the mouth! The door opened and the three of you headed inside and found a circle of geeks clustered around a pit wherein a pair of robots are charging at each other and smashing one another with a buzzsaw and a hammer respectively.

It's AWESOME!

While you were distracted by the epicness that is mechanized robot combat, Kim had her eye on the ball. She walked over to a tall statuesque and frankly beautiful blonde woman who looks majorly out of place here.

"Go Buzzsaw! Go Go Buzzsaw!" the woman said, pumping her fists in the air.

"Vivian Porter?" Kim asked her as you forced yourself away from brutal robot and walked up next to her.

The woman looked at the two of you, and Larry hiding behind you, and cocked her head in response.

"I'm Kim Possible," Kim said.  
The blonde's eyes flicker over you for a minute, quick enough you would have missed it a couple weeks ago. Her eyes immediately turn back to Kim. "There was a Doctor Possible at the Space Center."

"My Dad," Kim replied.

"He was nice!" the presumed Vivian Porter replied.

"Thanks, he asked us to help Fen."

"NOT NICE!" the blonde yelled, before screaming at the top of her lungs, "I don't want to help Fen! OLIVER!"

From out of the darkness looms a gigantic...fat nerd? Huh, wow, he was a lot less imposing than you thought a wild man who's dating someone who looks like Ms Porter would look. He's got the height and the mass, but you would not have seen the whole Super Nerd Look coming.

You lean next to Kim and whisper, "That's her boyfriend?! How against The Rules is that?!"

Kim rolled her eyes at you again as Oliver stepped forward. He set a tiny little robot down in front of you and said "Are you here to talk, or are you here to Rumble?" The robot begins to telescope upward, and you knew where this was going! Time for a beatdown! You get to see if your training with Mister B has helped on a mission with Kim! Badical!

As the Robot started to expand, you vaulted over it and land between it and Oliver. "Bring it on poindexter!" you yelled as you made a come get some gesture with your hands. Oliver looks at you nonplussed, before Vivian broke in.

"Uh, not that that wasn't cool and all, but he was challenging your Robot. Not you."

Oh... right. Robot Rumble. Not mano a mano, so much as Robot a Roboto. You straightened up and tried to look nonchalant. "I knew that, that was just me being dramatic about accepting!"

You totally had a robot that could fight a giant mech warrior that's twice your size. Wait. NO YOU DON'T!

Vivian patted you on the shoulder and said, "Nice acrobatics by the way." Larry proves he's got some of that Possible moxy himself by walking up to Oliver and getting him to talk about his robot. You just stood there trying to look cool and standoffish while Kim got Wade on the Kimmunicator. He has to have have something you can use, even if it'll take some time to get to the Robot Rumble.

As it turned out the Kimmunicator can double for a Robot. Coolio! Less awesome was the fact that it only took Oliver's bot about two minutes to smash the Kimmunicator to bits. The destruction of the Kimmunicator wasn't in vain though, because you noticed a funny pattern in the battle.

Wade had tried to get the robot to tip over, and kept trying to exploit its blind-spots. However, while they were fighting you were watching Oliver. He kept trying to make the same move over and over again when his bot tried to catch the Kimmunicator-bot. It was like he didn't understand the definition of crazy!

But then it worked. Everyone was doing the exact same things as far as you could tell, but the robot actually managed to catch the moving Kimmunicator. It was almost like it was le-

Oh. Oooooooh. Well, looks like you found the missing AI prototype. Unfortunately, you couldn't do anything about it. Kim recognized it too, and confronted Oliver. The big man was not happy that she just accused him of stealing, and neither was his girlfriend. Seriously, how did that happen?! You were sure that violated, like, ALL of The Rules right there. The rest of the Club wasn't happy either. In fact, they rose up as one and threw you, Kim, and Larry bodily out of the Rumble.

You'd have to come back later.

xXx

Larry wasn't too happy with you and Kim after that, so the three of you dispersed pretty quick. You headed home and, since it was late, went to bed. The next day at School, Kim seemed to be thinking out how and when to confront Oliver, so you left her to it. You still had Girl Problems to deal with. But hey! You had more friends than just Kim now right? You could ask everyone in the club! The only one you'd have to be careful around was Bonnie, the rumors were starting to die a slow, painful death, there was no reason to give them new life.

First on your list was Brick. He was a big, handsome popular guy. He HAD to know the secret to getting girls to date , he didn't have anything new to add.

"Sorry Stoppable," he said when you confronted him in the hall between classes, "All I can say is just go up and ask her, man. That's what Bonnie did, and it worked with me."

You sigh at that, thank Brick for his time, and move on. Maybe that worked for HIM but you're not the star quarterback of the Football team!

Hm, maybe Bonnie prepared something in particular for him? You couldn't just walk up to Bonnie, not after all the trouble you've had with people seeing you two together, so instead you texted her for a secret meetup, and get Mister B in on the act so you both have plausible deniability. God, what had your life become that you knew how to properly use six syllable words.

Unfortunately, Bonnie... was less than helpful.

"Just go out and ask her, idiot. She already probably wants to make out with your stupid face, so why keep her in suspense?"

"Bonnie," you replied bemused, "I don't know why you've suddenly gained such a high idea of my desirability. You hate me, why would you ever think something that simple would work?!"  
Bonnie dragged one hand over her face at that, but before she could respond, Mister B, who was theoretically present in his office of Disciplinary Teacher for troubled students, cut in.

"Just ask her Stoppable," he said seriously, "It works, trust me."

Wait, does this mean Mister B actually dated. Ever?!

"I can't see you ever dating, Mr. B," you said carefully. Just because he was talking crazy was no reason to be stupid about accusing him of insanity.

Mister B snorted at that "I'll have you know," he said, "I was dating one hell of a woman back in the day, Stoppable. Would've married her too if I had the chance."

You cocked your head, "Why didn't you?"

Mister B sighed for a moment in remembrance before he answered, "We had... philosophical differences about some aspects of our jobs."

Huh, you wondered if he means his day job or wherever it is he got his Hunting experience. You'd been meaning to ask him about that for awhile. Now wasn't the time with Bonnie present, but you were definitely getting some answers before this week was over.

Still, you had one more person to ask for advice, so immediately after school you texted Tara to meet you in front of the school, because you had a question for her. She met you there, and pretty soon you're the only two students left on the school grounds.

"Tara," you said, "I need some advice."

She looked at you excitedly for some reason and nodded her head quickly. Huh, guess she really wanted to help you out. That's cool.

"I need to know how to ask out a pretty girl. I've been asking everyone, and I thought maybe you might have some ideas?"

"Why don't you just be upfront about it?" Tara said quickly, the words almost jumbled in her hurry to get them out, "I'm sure she'll say yes!

"Hm," you said in thought, "Well, if you're sure that's going to work? I just don't think that it would. The Rules would get in the way. I mean, look at me Tara, I'm not exactly Mister Popular. Heck, I'm not even that good looking. Why would a pretty girl ever want to go out with someone like me?!"

That quieted Tara down for a moment. She looked you dead in the eyes, her own filled with fire. "Ron," she said firmly, "Any girl would be lucky to go out with you. You're kind, you're brave, and you're a hero. Don't let anyone ever tell you different, not even you," she smiled at you, her whole face glowing with it, "OK?"

You're... you're honestly kinda touched. You've only really been friends with Tara for a couple weeks, and that's probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said about you. You didn't even think you were that close, but wow, if you weren't you were going to change that. Tara's awesome!

You nodded to her, grinning. "Thanks Tara," you said happily, "I don't think anyone's ever said anything like that to me. You're awesome. I'm going to go do that right now! Thanks so much for your advice!"

Without a further word or thought you dashed out of the school at top speed. You're going to ask the ticket-girl out! And it's going to work!  
Wait, NO! Ron come back!  
xXx

It didn't take you long to get to the movie theater, but the line is HUGE. It's going to take you forever to get through it to get to Zita, but you can't just cut. That'd be rude, and against Movie Theater Etiquette, and manners were one of the few things that separate men from beasts! Like MONKEYS! You shuddered at the very thought of those heinous monsters.

Still, the whole waiting in line thing does give you time to try and figure out how to actually ask the girl out. You should probably introduce yourself first, then ask her name. Man, you can't believe you hadn't already done that. You had been a mess!

You have enough time in line to work yourself into a frenzy of angst and confusion. What were you thinking?! Just ASK HER?! WHAT KIND OF PLAN WAS THAT!?

Finally, you were the next in line, but before you could actually say word one to the girl, you feel a tapping on your shoulder. You turned around, and it was... Kim?

"Hey Kim," you said, "What're you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" she asked confused, 'What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was just about to ask the ticket girl out," you replied, "Still... not really sure how to do that, but I'll figure it out!"

"The ticket girl?" Kim asked with surprise in her voice, "Not... Never mind. I need your help Ron. We need to head back to the Rumble and get that Robot."

"Awww, KP, but I was almost there!" you gestured in front of you, "There's only one guy between her and me!"

Wait. There's only one guy between her and you, and Kim. Oh crud this could go really sideways really fast!

"Uh, KP, could you uh stand over there," you gestured to the opposite side of the entranceway to the theater.

She gave you a level look in response, "Why Ron?" she snorted, "Are you ashamed to be seen with me?"

"No, nononono," you said, "It's just, y'know, you're a pretty girl, and I'm a boy, and if ticket girl sees us together then she might think we're dating or something!"

"You, and me, dating?" Kim asked with bemused expression on her face.

"Well, uh, yeah," you stammered, "I mean, y'know it might look like that to a neutral third party if they didn't know we were just friends! BEST FRIENDS! But, y'know, friends."

The last guy between you and ticket girl headed off into the theater just then, but before you can make your move Kim sighed in resignation and dragged you off. "Come on, Best Friend," she said, "We've got a robot to wrangle."

"Ahhh! Kim!" you cried, "We're Not dating!" you yelled at the ticket girl as Kim drags you off, "She's my best friiiiieeeeeend!"

Five minutes later you're taking the elevator down to the Robot Rumble Railroad and giving Kim the full on Evil Eye. Unfortunately, she's pretty used to your evil eye so she completely ignores it. You decided that for the rest of this mission, you'd be giving Kim the silent treatment. It was majorly uncool that she'd just drag you away like a two year old. You're totally more mature than a toddler! Even if you do still sleep with a nightlight...

You made it to the door to the Rumble without any problems, and it let you in again without a hitch. Kim didn't even have to use one of Wade's gadgets! They should really look at upgrading their security though. Letting random strangers into their secret underground base was a big no no.

Kim broke the silence before you go in, "Now be careful Ron," she said, "There are probably booby traps everywhere."

You grunted in response. This isn't your first mission, you know how to be careful in a villain's lair! Even if this isn't, y'know, technically that. Still, you stepped carefully, and things went pretty easily all told. You're a lot lighter on your feet lately for some reason, so the two of you danced your way through the Robot Rumble and back out with the missing Robot without triggering a single booby trap.

Your continued silence finally gets to Kim on the way back.

"Look Ron," she said, "I'm sorry I dragged you out of the theater before you could ask the girl out. It was way rude of me."

You nodded stiffly in response.

"I've just been really worried about the Space Center. I know it's probably nothing, but if we hadn't gotten this back it could have majorly messed things up for them."

You sighed, and nodded begrudgingly, "I know Kim, but it's seriously uncool to do something like that. I mean, I don't drag you away from Josh Mankey, do I? You could have waited Five Minutes!"

Kim looked down in brief shame before looking back up at you and squaring her shoulders, "I know Ron. I really am sorry. I won't do it again. It's just, well, you've been distant lately, and I failed that mission last week, and honestly? I didn't know what to do about it. I know I was rude, and abrupt, and that wasn't right, but I've been having a bit of a bad time lately."

Wow. You hadn't realized things had been that bad. Heck, you hadn't realized Kim had out and out failed her mission last week. You didn't think that had ever happened before. You'd known it had been bad, but not… that. You started to feel really scummy about the whole thing.

"I'm sorry to Kim," you apologized, "I guess I hadn't realized what had been happening. I'll try to be better too. I didn't mean to be distant, but the whole applying myself thing, and the new extracurricular is really eating into my time and energy. I guess I just need to find a balance."

Kim patted you on the shoulder, and you smiled at each other, before giving each other a quick hug. You're still best friends after all, and neither of you is going to let something like this get between you!

xXx

You return the robot to the Space Center that very night, and head home to do some homework. The next day is a Wednesday, so you have a whole free period to use to bug Mister B and get some information out of him. You'd set it up earlier in the week to make sure you knew all your responsibilities for the new Club, but now you had an ulterior motive!

It's a little weird though. As you wait for study hall to roll around you realize that most of the Hunting Club is looking at you funny whenever you happen to run into them. Brick's his usual indefatigable self, but Bonnie's looking at you like she's downgraded you down past pond scum all the way to cave dwelling bacteria, and Tara looks a bit like someone kicked her favorite puppy. That's majorly uncool, and you'll have to do something about it post haste. Right after you figure out how the heck Mister B has experience with the undead and get any frustrating paperwork squared away.

It wasn't like you had much else to do. Your homework was actually completed and getting the kicked puppy face was so not great. It wasn't hard to find Mr B at all. He was just sitting on his desk filling out papers when you walked in.

"Stoppable," he grunted at you.

"Hey Mr B. I wanted to talk." He motioned for you to sit down as he continued grading assignments, and you did. "I was wondering… how did you become a hunter?"

"Like most others do, Stoppable. I was drafted by someone else. She was a lot like you, back in the day." He chuckled to himself as the papers. "Saw something she didn't like when we were kids, back in highschool if you'd believe it, and started a crusade to help protect other people from monsters. It was a ghost that we fought against first. Boy, were we unprepared for that." He frowned slightly even as he continued laughing softly to himself and- hey. Wasn't that your test? Aww sweet, B+! Eventually, Mister B collected himself from whatever memory was there and continued.

"It was the first time we'd ever fought something, and two corpses later we'd won. The poor guy the ghost was possessing, and one of our own that got killed in the fight. Weeks later, we found our school being ransacked and government agents looking for the three of us that made it out of there alive. We did what any group of terrified teenagers would do, and ran."

Well, that seemed like a perfectly reasonable solution. Why face spooky men in black types when you could just run away? Plus, that must have been like gazillion years ago, so way less tracking tech to worry about.

"We… didn't get far. Not even out of the school. They captured us and threw us into unmarked white vans that drove us to some government facility. There was a man there who we thought was going to wipe our memories. Instead, he congratulated us on our progress and asked us to join his organization- Task Force: VALKYRIE."

He looked to the side for a while before turning back to you. "It was pretty nice. We were students by day, and monster hunters by night. We even thought it was kind of fun back then. Hell, it was fun. The friend who brought me into this asked me out a few years later. Those were probably some of the better years of my life."

His fists tightened. "That ended? It seemed like things were going so well Mr B! What happened?"

"1986 happened. I don't know why, but there was something about that year that made everything worse. Monsters were harder to fight, missions were more demanding and my relationship with my best friend started breaking apart at the seams. We lost the third member of our group in March to a back of werewolves trying to summon something and the two of us left started arguing when we weren't trying to keep away from each other." The skin around his knuckles had turned a deathly pale.

"Then Chernobyl happened. We were in the unit receiving a distress call from the Soviet government. Someone was messing around in their nuclear plant, and it looked like it was about to explode. They confirmed the suspect was probably human, and that only made the ride there worse. I thought that we should kill him and have done with it. My partner thought we could rehabilitate the enemy if he was human. We got into a shouting match about who was right or wrong that time and since the enemy was alone both of us split up to get to him first."

Well, that could never end well. Simply from sheer proximity to Larry you knew never to split the party.

"I got up to a higher position and lined up a shot. I saw her coming in from below but I didn't care. I was young, reckless, and thought I was doing the right thing. She dove in to tackle what would later be classified as the first supervillain as I made my shot." You could hear the pain in his voice as he continued on, and you were about to tell him he could stop when he opened his mouth again.

"I grazed her eye with a sniper bullet. It was a small miracle I didn't accidentally kill her right then. The second shot took him out but it was already too late. The reactor was melting down as I flew down the stairs screaming for a medevac. The rest of that event is history, and one week later she quit Valkyrie and started another project with the friends she'd made there who were willing to go with. I wasn't one of them, and we ended the relationship soon after. It was just too much for the both of us. You might know them. I heard Global Justice works with Possible a lot these days."

Wait, his friend was the one who founded GJ? That could only mean…

"YOU DATED DR. DIRECTOR?!" Holy crap, you didn't know Barkin even knew her, much less sucked face with one of the adults you respected the most! Wow, you'd probably never look at her the same way again. In front of you, Mr Barkin had forsaken chuckles for a full-bodied laugh. He continued to cackle at your outburst for another minute, and you swore you saw some tears there, before finally managing to pull himself together.

"Yes, Stoppable, I did. It was a better time. I stayed on with VALKYRIE for a few more years after the incident and even helped Captain Black, a close friend of mine there, set up a more civic minded organization called Section 13 before finally decided to retire. In fact, the only reason you guys aren't receiving the same treatment as Betty and I did was because I called in to say that I'd be watching over your group. I've been with them long enough that my endorsement was enough," The bells rang again as your study hall ended, "and you should be going to Lunch, Stoppable. Make sure to get your three squares a day, understood?"

With a quick yes sir, you left his office for the Cafeteria and food. You gave him a quick wave as you left but he was already far away, looking at some picture he kept in his desk.

XxX

Things were pretty quiet after that. You decided that you'd poked the bear enough for one week, and figured you'd leave Mister B alone until firearms training. That was a pretty major talk you'd had, and you thought he deserved some time without being poked at. Granted, he was a substitute High School teacher so someone would still be poking at him, but at least it wouldn't be you for once!

The rest of the Hunting Club kept themselves to themselves mostly. You all were on orders to rest and recover, and that was what you did. You thought so anyway, you didn't exactly move in the same social circles as the rest of the club. You continued to try to figure out how to ask Ticket Girl out, and man, it still felt kinda uncool that you didn't even know her name. It was weird. Everyone seemed to think just asking was the way to go, but how would that even work?!

By and large, you hung with Kim, and things between you two were good! The two of you talked more and assumed less, and both of you were better for it. Kim seemed way less stressed in general, but she did seem to still have something bothering her. That shoe finally dropped Thursday evening, when she gave you a call and told you to meet her at the Space Center to confront Fen. Wade had confirmed one of her guesses and somehow Vivian and Oliver were innocent!

You weren't really sure how that all worked, but it made sense given the whole "Fen stinks at Robotics" thing that was obvious from meeting him. To make sure Fen didn't get away you and Oliver were waiting outside one of the two doors into the Robotics lab. Kim was going to enter through the other one and confront him.

You thought about making small talk, after all, a guy who looked like him with a girl who looked like Ms Porter had to have some secret. Then you remembered that the only meaningful interaction you had had with Oliver had been him challenging you to a robot fight, you thinking he meant a fist fight, and then his robot beating yours and Kim's horribly in front of a screaming crowd of tech geeks. Yeah, you weren't gonna ask this guy for advice until you had something you could give him for it.

Anyway, there you were, chilling out, waiting for a signal or something from Kim when Oliver perks his head up and charges into the Robotics Lab. That guy's got to have some serious ears on him to hear what's going on in there through a closed metal door!

You followed him in just in time to see Ms porter stop him from punching Fen out. Fen's... not too happy with this situation. He ran toward you, trying to make a break for it, but you were having none of that. Fen wasn't the most athletic guy, and after weeks of training on top of your mission experience you had fast enough reactions to clothesline him as he tried to run right past you. Fen collapsed on the floor, just as Mister Doctor P ran in followed by Space Center Security.

"What's going on?" he asked confused.

"I did a bit of research Dad, and it turns out that Fen had almost no scholarly publications. He's got a reputation, but not much else. He's been riding on the coattails of his lab assistant, Doctor V.F. Porter. He set Ron and me up to steal the prototype that Dr Porter took with her when he finally got to be too much for her to take."

Mister Doctor P wasn't looking like he followed, so Kim summed things up, "Long story short Dad, Vivian genius, Fen fraud."

"Wait," you interjected, "You're telling me that she's a genius AND looks like a supermodel?! AND SHE'S DATING OLIVER!? How against The Rules is that?!"

Kim sighed at you and said, "Ron. There are no Rules! It's all in your head! All you have to do to get a date is ASK!"

"Really, KP, REALLY!?" you said, "So you're saying I'm just supposed to walk up to a beautiful, intelligent woman like this" you gestured to Dr Porter, "And ask," you looked her dead in the eyes, "Would you like to go to a movie with me?"

You turned back to Kim to continue your rant, but before you could Doctor Porter interrupted, "Sure."

You weren't the only one with your jaw on the floor after that. Dr Porter looked around, "What?" she asked, "Lonely Hearts is the Feel Good movie of the year, and it's no fun going to the movies alone."

You blinked in stupefaction for a minute, along with everyone else in the room, before Kim recovered enough to ask a question, "What about Oliver?"

"Oh," Dr Porter said, "He's a robot too. Most people aren't willing to accept that fact that someone who looks like me is a genius roboticist, so it was easier to use my research to build him as a front man." She pulled a device from her pocket and pressed a button on it. Oliver jerked up straight before slumping where he stood. Dr Porter walked over to him and pulled off his face?! Underneath was a robotic skull!

You all take in the fact that Dr Porter was apparently smart enough to build a fully functional Turing Capable AI just so she didn't have to deal with jerks. Mister Doctor P squared his shoulders, turned to her, and said, "Well Dr Porter, it seems we've got an opening for a Roboticist here at the Space Center, and if you're interested, we'd love to have you."

Vivian perked up and smiled happily while rapidly nodding her head in acceptance.

Kim turned to go, and you figured Doctor Porter was probably just using you to make a point so you turned to join her. There's no way a woman like that would seriously go to the movies with you. You were turning over whether this meant just asking is a valid technique or not in your head, when you get outside. Kim's already headed off for home, but before you could leave the Space Center Campus, someone caught your arm. You turn, and it's Doctor Porter!

"Hey Ron," she grinned, "Where are you off to in such a hurry? We still have to talk about when we're going to see that movie!"

What.

xXx

It's Friday Night, and you're at the movies, with a date. A supermodel genius scientist with a doctorate date. No big, right?

Going up to the ticket booth, you ordered two for Lonely Hearts. Zita, you actually managed to get her name this time, got one look at your date and gave you the biggest eyebrow raise you'd ever seen. It would be pretty funny if you weren't screaming internally. In the… 'occupied' state that you were, Vivian had to lead you by hand into the theater's back row. Oh god, oh god, oh god.

You sat down next to a bunch of empty seats, though there was a couple on the far end of the room sucking face in the most obnoxious way. As the flick started you could barely pay attention, because there was a BEAUTIFUL WOMAN SITTING NEXT TO YOU HOLDING YOUR HAND!

You've never hyperventilated before, but you're a little worried that you're about to. Looking to your partner you saw her seat was empty already. God, were you that unappealing that she left you before the trailers had even finished?! You looked back to the screen, clenching your fists in the forsaken hope that maybe things were as bad as they seemed, and that maybe you wouldn't be doomed by the rules to live a life totally devoid of love and happ-

"Jesus christ, N00b. I leave to get some popcorn and you're almost hyperventilating?" Sure enough, Vivian was back in her seat with a large bucket of popcorn in her arm. "God, I'm surprised you managed to take out that Gangrel if you react like this normally."

"Hey, Vampires are a totally different beast than the trappings of teenage love. I can set Vampires on fire! You wouldn't understand." Of course she wouldn't, she wasn't the one who had to-

Wait.

"How did you know about that?" You were surprised that she knew it, but now it made sense why someone as awesome as her would agree to go to a movie with you. It was just business.

"You know that person you talked to over the net a few weeks back? Yeah, that was me. I am glad you noobies burned down the house without a hitch and got away scot free, by the way. Popcorn?" She held out the bucket to you. You grabbed enough to stuff your face in a way that would hide your embarrassment. She laughed at your reaction, especially when you choked on a small kernel that tried to go down the wrong pipe. After a minute of hacking quietly while she watched the movie, you finally managed to dislodge the little piece of killer corn from your throat.

"So, what? You hunt monsters like I do?" You didn't expect her to go lighting houses on fire or going out to stake Vampires. Then again, Oliver would be a totally great bodyguard if she ever got into a bit of trouble.

"Of course not, most people in my group don't. We're too spread out to do so and most of us aren't really specced for it anyway. The group I'm in, Network 0, was made to collect and offer information about the supernatural. I've been watching you ever since you contacted me and I have to say it has been impressive." Really? You'd been hearing that a lot but it wasn't like you did that much, right? One dead Vampire wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah, I've been hearing that. Thanks."

"Well, I've also been watching you long enough to know you're going to keep going. I'd like to offer my services to your group. I'm willing to do anything but go on hunts. Information gathering and requisitions? I'm your girl. Fighting or meeting important people? No thanks. So, how does that sound?" Honestly, pretty good. Doing this sort of stuff was hard and having an extra hand made sense. You couldn't help but feel you were missing something, though…

"All of that is for free?" Vivian looked back at you, before snapping her finger.

"Thanks for reminding me! It isn't, actually. If I want to help you and remain a member of the Network, then you need to pay a small price. We... 'met' Wade when I contacted you. He really seems to have some privacy issues, you know," If that wasn't the understatement of the year you'd be surprised. "And he ran headfirst into us. Since then, the groups been throwing their noobs at him to keep him occupied until they decided what to do. Mal said he was really proud when one of his trainees got your little eleven year old hacker genius to accidentally download 20 gigs of robot porn."

"...Can we continue on to the verdict please?"

"Yeah, well we decided to give him a bit of a test. We wanted to see if he was ready to accept what goes on in the dark. He got really close, but failed in the end." Well, that sucked. Then again that was about him and this was about you.

"So, what? Am I supposed to stop working with him if I want to work with you?" She shrugged.

"Only in the hunter stuff. No recruiting him, no calling in favors from the contact list he keeps for Team Possible, or getting weird gadgets for things he'd look into. Keep him on the superheroing side, and everyone stays happy. On the flipside, if you work with me you'll get access to Network 0's information on monsters and we'll run interference on all the stuff he's got lojacked," She poked your neck, "starting with the tracking chip he put in you." Really, Wade? A tracking chip?! Did he trust you so little?

"So, what's it going to be Ron?"

 **[X] Work with Vivian Porter and Network Zero** (Hunter logistical Backup, Unable to recruit Wade or ask him for gadgets, Seriously, have you seen her?)

XxX

Sunday dawned clear and bright. Mister B had gotten the Club some time at one of the local gun ranges, and texted everyone to meet there instead of at the school. Once everyone is assembled, the very first thing he says to you is to NEVER EVER POINT A GUN AT ANYTHING YOU DON'T WANT TO SHOOT. Next, he reminds you TO ALWAYS TREAT A GUN AS A DEADLY WEAPON, NOT A TOY. That's a common theme throughout the day. The club spends about three quarters of the booked range time drilling on gun safety, and making sure that all four of you are taking this seriously.

The rest of your time is spent learning how to shoot. Surprisingly, Brick had some previous experience with rifles. He'd gone hunting with his Dad once or twice. The rest of you were complete rookies. You did manage to hit your targets though. You think Mister B was impressed by that. Bonnie less so. She took it as a personal affront that you were better at anything than her, and you could already tell that she was going to be spending a fair amount of her free time working on making sure that changed. Tara was a bit skittish at first, almost jumping at shadows, but over time she got used to things and began to get into it.

By the time the Range owner came around to warn you that your booked time was almost up, the club as a whole was pretty stoked. It was always fun to learn something new that related to explosions!

Still, all good things must come to an end. As the club left the Shooting Range you realized that there were no reports to make, and no analyses to share. The only thing left to do before you all went your separate ways was to decide what the plan was for next week.

So, what's the Plan Hotshot?  
 **  
Major Category - Team Action (Choose one)**  
 **[X] Home on the Range pt. 2:** You'd already begun your gun training, and you were doing pretty well if you did say so yourself. Mr Barkin says that you all need some more time before you're totally ready for the next bit but even then you're proud of what you've been able to accomplish so far.

 **Information Gathering**

 **[X] Tricity Cartography Part Deux!** You've successfully gotten the lay of 2/3 of the land. All that remains is the scum of hive and villainy that is Lowerton. Alright, it's probably not that bad, but it's still too close to Wannaweep for your peace of mind.  
-[X] Tara

She did the rest to a satisfactory degree too.

[X] **Rumor mongering**  
-[X] Middleton  
-[X] Vivian  
-[X] Brick

 **Preparation**

 **[X] Recruitment.** Well, you've finally managed to start out as a fully fledged hunter group. Mr Barkin has finally given you the OK on bringing new people into the fold. He just warned that you shouldn't do so too frequently, unless you want to draw suspicion. You're more sure he didn't want to do the paperwork but you couldn't blame him. One newbie every month sounded fair, right? CAN ONLY SEND ONE PERSON TO RECRUIT, Will take time to refresh  
 **-[X] Josh Mankey:** A guy you're not really too fond of. You understand that most of the distaste you have for the man stems not from him, but from how Kim acts around him, yet that didn't stop you from gagging a little when you thought of having that guy working with you. On the other hand, a more practical side of you recognized that Josh was very good with people, and really wasn't that bad of a guy. He would be useful though, so you'd learn to deal. No big.  
-[X] Barkin

 **[X] Pen Pal Projects!** You've got a Pen Pal now. Maybe the rest of the Club would like one too? Spend some time keeping up with Jazz Fenton and see if you can broaden the horizons of your teammates. It's not like any of them hate extra credit, right?  
-[X] Ron, Bonnie

 **Major Category - Free Time[X] Supervillain Shenanigans.** Shego is your ally. Theoretically. Everyone knows she's available (you wouldn't keep that from them) but you should probably introduce her to the group so that no one does anything stupid when she's around.


	14. Week 6- The Hacker and The Thief

It didn't take you long to figure out what needed doing. Your biggest problem right now was that you didn't know enough. Where there was one vampire, there might be more, but you hadn't even finished mapping out the Tricity area! Getting an ear to the ground was going to be vitally important if you wanted to find the monsters before they killed. You wouldn't always be able to count on being an eyewitness.

Before you could go about making decisions about who would do what a slight issue arose. A blonde issue. Bearing gifts.

"Hello, newbie hunters and Sergeant Barkin!" She entered the room laden with bags of different kinds. Surveying the stunned faces, she turned to an angle where she could see all of you. "I am Vivian Francis Porter! I'm a member of Network Zero who'd been watching you guys from afar and Ron here was charming enough to convince me to join up with you guys." She punctuated the charming with a particularly playful wink in your direction.

"What's with the bags, then? You decide to go shopping at thrift store on your way here?"

"Ever to the point, Bon-Bon," the cheerleader in question bristled at Vivian's use of her hated nickname, "Well, I decided that since none of you really know me or trust me that I'd get you all a little gift to show my gratitude for being let into your little cell."

She turned to Mr. Barkin, pulling out a small manilla envelope. "I procured a shipment of weapons from a friend of mine in Texas. They'll be arriving later in the week Around the time you guys meet up if you want to take the advantage to go onto the range with them. The paperwork for them is in here. Enjoy."

Her posture shifted towards Tara. "Now, I know you're not the biggest fan of mine already but I think this will help," She foisted a large white bag forward, "Inside is a subscription to cheer weekly, valid until you cancel it and at no charge. You know, people really should learn to get rid of registry errors these days. There's also a $200 group spa certificate with membership coupons for the cheer team to spend a good week before competitions. A friend had these and he was more than happy to give them up for an old buddy." Any reservations Tara had vanished in a squee of joy as she looked at the gifts she'd received.

Pulling a 180, she looked up at Brick. She gave him a winning smile while holding out a large brown paper bag. "You, Mr Flagg, get something I had to fight a Network member for. A vintage collector's edition first season of the Fearless Ferret. On VHS, no less, so you know it's legit." Brick made a sound so high pitched only dogs could hear it in response. Maybe that was some kind of Ferret call?

"And now for you, Bon-bo-"

"Bonnie." Heh, it was fun to see someone else getting on her nerves for once, even as Vivian returned the angry glare with nothing more than a cheshire give.

"You, my dear, get something very special. You'd heard about your sister's newest purchases, right?" You could almost see the cheerleader's fists turning white from where you were in the room. "Well, I think it's about time a bit of karmic justice befell them."

She held out the rest of the bags, each colored tastefully. "Apparently Amazon had a shipping anomaly and all of these expensive designer clothes meant for them just happened to have ended up in my house. Now, I'm a good citizen and I figured getting the missing goods back to one of the family's members would be the right thing to do. I'm sure you'll be responsible and makes sure the right person gets what they deserve, right?" With a smile and a wink she gave the items to a very scary looking Bonnie with the most genuine and terrifying smile you'd ever seen.

And that was al-

"You didn't think I'd leave you high and dry, did you Ron?" She dug around in a back pocket before procuring two small pieces of paper and handing them to you. "These are two movie vouchers for next week. Now, you don't have to bring me though I would love if you were able to go on an actual date without freezing up in the middle."

With a shaky hand, you grabbed the tickets from her. Looking around for some way out, you saw everyone else with their mouths wide open, in complete surprise. Well, other than Brick who was too busy giving you double thumbs up. She couldn't really mean... Could she?

….No, that was outlandish. You'd screwed up the first date so hard and all the romance movies Kim dragged you to had kindly informed you that there weren't any chances after that.

Well, that and the feeling that she probably wanted to talk shop with you about stuff rather than go to a movie again. Yeah, that was why she was doing this. Heck she was probably getting a kick out of teasing you! You shoved them into a pocket before sitting back down and trying to hide the blush you knew you were sporting right now. The giggles from her general area didn't help with that at all, no sir.

"Ooooookay. Now that we've gotten introductions finished it's time to figure out assignments this week." Yeah, and you did have a lot of things to go over.

"Well, the first priority is finding the baddies before they get to us or innocent people. That means we need people finding out about the stranger stuff that's been happening in the Tricity area. I think that it would be best to start with Middleton, since this is where we meet up. Brick, I want you investigating on the ground for anything weird. Ask around, and come back at the end of the week with what you've got. Vivian I want you to help him out, while also keeping a watch on cyberspace or with what data you have on here. More importantly, I need you to see if there's anyone checking out the remains of our first hunt. I don't think people will find us, but better safe than sorry, you know?"

Next was Tara. "Now I know this isn't the best assignment either, but I need you to work out a rough map of Lowerton. It shouldn't but too hard, but I think you can do it. Just remember that it includes Wannaweep, and I know that place is creepy so if you want help you can talk to Bonnie about it. I'd assign her with you, but Mr Barkin said he wanted to talk to her about extra credit opportunities," You turned to her, "And I assume that's what you're going to be doing for most of the week, so if you can please help fill what gaps are there. I'll probably be doing that too,"

"Mr. Barkin. I know we just got one recruit, but one more person would really help give use all a lot of flexibility now that we're not just focusing on one target. Go for who you want, unless someone else has an idea on who to look for?"

Tara's hand shot up. "Oooooh mememe! Why don't we get Josh? He's really cool and I think he'd be interested in hanging out with us a bit more often."

"Yeah," Brick put in, "he's also been kinda bummed that I've been missing out on some Friday hang outs because of the club. I told him that I'd try and see if I could get him a spot and he sounded cool with it."

"Yeah," Bonnie said snidely, "It would also be good to give Stoppable an example of what a person like him should be if they actually put in effort to look good."

Really? You thought that they were your friends (except Bonnie) and they stab you in the back like this?! Well, there was only one option of last resort. "I say we put this up to a vote. All for recruiting Mankey?" Four hands went up-really Vivian? You don't even know the guy! "... And that decides it. Mankey it is."

Stupid popular traitors.

"That's all. See you next week. I think it'd be best if we get the gun training down, and if all goes well I'll have another sort of recruit to show you guys." And that was that. You'd just have to see what this week held.

XxX

It turned out, not much! Your week was pretty quiet. All you had to do was keep your head down and do some communicating. First, once you got home that night, you e-mailed Shego to let her know you wanted to do a meet and greet between her and the team. Making sure everybody was on the same page was a necessity before there was a crisis. If she had to get used to the team in a firefight and vice versa there might be some friendly fire issues. Visions of plasma burns everywhere danced through your head for a moment as you shuddered.

You decided to let her know when and where the team was meeting up for firearms training next weekend, and asked her to meet up then and there. She didn't immediately respond, but the e-mail registered as received so you hoped everything was on the up and up.

That only left one other thing on your plate for this week, besides school work, social obligations, and the general insanity that almost always ensues when Kim Possible is your best friend. The one remaining task? Your pen pal, Jazz Fenton. Unfortunately, you couldn't do much about that until she wrote back, so you rejoiced in the opportunity to get some more rest and relaxation. It wouldn't last forever after all.

You retrieved Jazz's next letter from the mail box on Tuesday. It even came with a package, cool! Shredding the sealed paper, you pulled out a piece of meticulously written stationary.

Dear Ron,

Hello again! First off, thank you for writing back to me so promptly. I appreciate it, it'd be hard to be a pen pal if one of us wasn't writing! Second, and please don't take this the wrong way Ron, but I wanted to hear about you, not Kim. Sure, it's really cool you know an international teen hero, but she's not my Pen Pal Ron, you are. You're the one I'm writing to and want to know more about.

You seem like a really unique person after all!

Now, I think that we've gotten this pretty close to set up I think it would be really cool if we exchanged something about us that we think would held show who we are. Enclosed within is a photo of me and Bearbert Einstein. I've had him since I was a kid and I think he says a lot about who I am. I'm soft and cuddly but also really smart and capable. I hope you like him as much as I did. Just make sure not to throw him in the wash if he gets dirty, he's dry clean only. Oh, and keep him away from pets and other animals, it would suck if he got ripped up. In fact, if I ever go visit Middleton to say hi, I'd really like to see him to make sure he's in one piece, okay? Cool! Now, I can't wait to see what you think would be a fitting representation of yourself. Just remember not to focus it on Kim. If I really wanted that I'd go talk to a friend at Club Banana. They're testing out an 'Everything Possible' clothing line that might hit shelves in a few seasons.

Now, we've got some things to talk about.

Namely ghosts and how they are NOT REAL. You understand?! Spirits and Poltergeists are NOT existing phenomena in this world. They are figments of the imagination and I am sick and tired of accidentally getting hit by every ghost-trapping invention that my Dad thinks up and having a penpal that even suggests they might be real is just not cool, okay? If you just get past this caveman-like superstition I think we'll get along really well.

Thanks in advance,

Jazz Fenton

P.S. I don't really know much about dating. Maybe you should just ask her and see what happens?

After opening the package, you took out the most awesome plush scientist bear you'd ever seen, and the picture fell out right after that. You picked it up, taking the moment to look at your pen pal and concluding that the universe was out to get you

...She was actually pretty cute, and she looked like Kim which didn't really help matters much.

Well, other than the… rather obvious portion of the letter you'd say this was going pretty well, all told. Now, the really hard part was figuring out how to get an equally good gift like what she got you. Bear Scientists were just the coolest after all!

It took you some time, but eventually you figured out what would have the best mix of you and awesome. While you thought that'd be an easy fix, Rufus kept vetoing your choices. You had no idea why! What teenage girl wouldn't want her own guide to taking care of hairless rodents!?

Eventually, you found something your little furry friend agreed was a good idea. It was the very first cooking manual you learned from with your nana. Nana Ruthie had lived in Wisconsin for a while, and she'd picked up a few recipe books while she was there. This particular one, The Greenbay Packers' Official Guide to Cheese, had really called out to you. You and Rufus were big on the Cheese after all! It hurt a bit to send something so personal off, it even had some annotations from you and your nana, but you'd learned all the recipes off by heart years ago, and it felt good to share something of her with someone.

Dear Jazz,

It's nice to talk/converse/write with/to you again. I really like this whole thing, even though Mr. Barkin did kinda force me into this. You sound like a really nice person and I'm glad that you want me to be me. It's… kinda hard hearing people say otherwise. Now, I love Bearbert Einstein. He's like the cutest thing ever and I'm pretty sure Kim will love him too since there's no way I'm not showing her this! It's right up her alley.

I'm sorry if my talk got to be a bit depressing before. It's just that Kim and I are pretty close and I do tend to do almost everything with her pretty much all of the time. That and being the sidekick usually has people who know me asking for autographs so I figured I should get that out of the way first. Now, I'm really flattered by what you've gotten me and I really liked the photo of you.

You're pretty cute, you know.

In response, I've sent you a photo of me (hopefully one I didn't blink in, but Rufus picked it out so the odds are 70/30 for no blink). To give in the same spirit you sent Bearbert Einstein, I've included a cooking book on the glories of cheese and how the great masters of cheese in Wisconsin use it in dishes. It's the first book my nana brought to me when she wanted to teach me how to cook. Its seen better days but if you like cheese I know all of these recipes by heart at this point and it's just gathering dust on my bookshelf. Hey, maybe you could be the cool older sister and make your little brother some of the cool stuff in here! If he likes cheese enough, I might even be willing to give you the original recipe for the Naco.

It is my creation after all.

On the ghost stuff, I'm really sorry your parents put you through all of that, but I think you might not see the whole picture here. I know you're smart, so I'm pretty sure you know better than to deny something that's so possibly dangerous without concrete proof. Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence, right? And besides, a healthy dose of superstition can actually be really good for you. Also, cavemen are cool, so I don't mind being called one.

Thanks a bunch,

Ron Stoppable

P.S. WHY DOES EVERYONE KEEP SAYING THAT?!

Taking care to make sure Rufus licked the envelope closed, you made a mental note to deliver it to Mr. Barkin tomorrow after school. You were surprised it took this long to get things together, but you did want to do things right. It would probably be a lot easier after this given you weren't really expecting to give gifts again, and not ones that were so important.

You just hoped she liked your choice.

XxX

Bonnie took Mr B up on the Pen Pal option herself. She said something about needing more extracurriculars when you asked why she'd bother with more schoolwork. She didn't give you much hard information about her pen pal, but her rant about being stuck with an even worse version of you were entertaining to listen to. You kinda hoped you'd get to meet the guy someday. Anyone who could torque Bonnie off that badly with just a letter had to be a good guy!

You heard back from Shego around Wednesday, via a short e-mail that lacked even her usual snark. She must be really out of it if she's not needling you. Now that you knew she was coming for sure, you e-mailed Mister B and let him know the whole sitch. He wasn't exactly happy about the recruiting a supervillain thing, but he agreed to let her make her pitch.

You took the time to touch base with your classmate club members too. You felt kinda bad about sending someone as badical as Tara to map the horrible den of evil that was Lowerton, but it needed doing, and she had mad cartography skills! Surprisingly, she wasn't having any problems, but she was happy to talk to you for a bit and hang out.

Brick has apparently been hitting up some of his former classmates to get his ear to the ground. Not everyone makes it out of the Tricity area and goes to college, and Brick still has a solid enough reputation with other graduates that they're willing to talk to him.

All in all, things were going pretty well. Your team was gelling together, you were actually getting decent grades in school and Kim was doing way better after that talk you'd had last week. Though, she did ask weird questions about your date with Vivian. Those cleared right up though when you told her it was a practical thing, that nothing had happened, and that it hadn't been a date-date. She even perked up a bit when you mentioned the vouchers Vivian had given you as a sort of apology.

You were really going to have to think about who you were gonna take…

xXx

Friday came fairly quickly this week, and without much fanfare. Much of the day went by without incident and you were more concerned with getting through to Sunday right now to be honest. Still, lunch was lunch and Ron Stoppable wouldn't skip one of the three most important meals of the day! You plated up with the mashed potatoes and mock chicken legs that the cafeteria was serving today before walking to your normal table. You saw Kim waving at you as you were about to cross past the popular table, a task that had become much easier without Bonnie needling y-

"Hey Ron!" Following the voice to your left, you saw nothing else but the blond menace himself standing there with an evil smile on his face. Josh Mankey, bane of your existence and focus of Kim crushes. Around you, the cafeteria slowly grew quieter as everyone looked upon your epic struggle. Well, that or in sheer shock that he was talking to you openly.

"Hey Josh. I was just about to go sit down with Kim over there." Yeah, just walk away and he'll let you go in pe-

He slung his arm around your shoulder as you tried to walk away. "There's no need to be afraid, man. I'm not going to bite your head off," says the man whose last name was one letter away from MONKEY, "I just wanted to let you know that you're welcome at the popular table now. I'm pretty sure letting in another club member wouldn't ruffle any feathers, right?" He gave you a nefarious wink as you found yourself being guided towards the table you tried to avoid so hard over the years. As the two of you walked you swore you could hear a pin drop in the lunchroom. You looked back to your normal table only to see Kim staring really weirdly at the two of you, almost like she was in another world and was that drool creeping out of the corner of her mouth? Nevertheless she was totally out of the picture, and you turned towards the approaching table.

Bonnie was of course nonplussed about your presence, and was making a face that was probably a lot like yours right now. Brick was giving you a smile and moved aside to open up seats for the two of you. Tara was giving you a thumbs up as you began to sit down. When your butt hit the seat, you could feel the eyes of everyone else looking at you. From what you could see most were in outright shock, and you swore on of the cheerleaders just swooned.

Was you being with the cool people really that weird? After a few minutes of abject silence, you coughed in an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the tension. Finally, you looked towards your nemesis in this school and she rolled her eyes before beginning to talk like nothing had happened. After that, things returned to something resembling normal. As you walked home that night, you noticed the people staring at you, all trying to examine you for something. When Kim caught up to you they stopped, but as you walked home yo couldn't help but feel like something fundamental had changed.

At least you knew the Hunting Club had another member in its group.

 **Achievement gained- …I guess I'm Popular now?: Recruit four of the five most popular students of Middleton High! Reward: Ron's no long a social pariah! (+1 free time action because people are willing to spend time with him in public and at school!)**

XxX

Sunday dawned bright and early, and you didn't have trouble getting up for once! Well, not much anyway...

Accounting for the timing this week, the club was going to meet at the Shooting Range and have your debrief there before you got into some serious range time. You mounted your trusty steed, threw on your helmet and headed out.

By the time you got there the whole team was assembled and chatting amiably. Mankey was being his usual sociable self so that was... good, you guessed. You figured you'd start things slow and work your way up, so you asked Tara to go first.

Tara walked up to the front of the room with a big manilla folder filled with maps.

"Alright," she said, "I've finished mapping the Tricity area. It's not as in depth as the stuff I did for the Hunt, but I've got a good understanding of the layout all three cities. I also have a Master copy of all my work for the club, as well as a couple photocopies for anyone who wants one."

She held up the folder, "It's been kinda nice knowing all these new short cuts, they totally cut ten minutes off our ride here!"

The whole group nodded and gave a warm round of applause. Brick stood up next, "I didn't find much out. I asked around some of my old classmates who still live in town, and I did find some stuff. Seems like there's been a really serious animal attack recently. The police reports say the responsible animal is a canine of some kind, but they haven't identified the breed."

You raised a hand, "Do they know how big whatever this thing is Brick?"

"Well," he replied, "The signs they've found point to whatever it is being pretty large, but there could just be one really hungry wolf out there. On the other hand," he turned to Mister B, "Mr Barkin are werewolves real too?"

Mister B facepalmed, "Yes Mister Flagg, werewolves are real too," he raised his head back up, "and if what you're saying is true we might have one on our hands. I'll look into it myself."

"OK," Brick replied, "Thanks Mister Barkin. That's all I got." He walked back to his seat.

Vivian jumped right up in response. "Continuing on from there," she started, "I've got another lead, and it's a bit more personal. I kept an eye on the site of your little Hunt, and someone's sent a Nosferatu to investigate the house. Whoever is responsible isn't going to find anything normally but I thought you guys should know."

OK, that wasn't good. Hopefully, this wasn't the prelude to anything serious, but you'd have to keep an eye out for this Nosferatu. Vampires were weird, and while Vivian may have thought you got away clean, this thing might have some weird super bloodhound power or something.

Mister B got up after Vivian sat down and gestured at Mankey, "Alright people, as you can see, I was successful in recruiting Mister Mankey to join our little club. I can't say he's completely convinced, but he's always been an open minded young man."

He looked at you, and you gestured towards the range.

"Now," he bellowed, "it's time for you all to get some practice time! So MOVE OUT! MOVE IT MOVE IT MOVE IT!"

Everyone scattered before the charging crazy man as he herded you towards your reserved part of the Range.

Your range time today was pretty much a repetition of last week, but with more guns. Mister B tested everyone who'd gone through last week's session for safety, and once he was sure that everyone remembered how to be safe he let you all start trying some bigger guns. Rifles mostly, but also a shotgun or two, and some really cool machine pistols.

Mr Barkin said all of you were ready enough, and that your growth this week, either through practice or skill was sufficient enough, and that he'd graded the firearm safety test he'd given once you'd began in the range today. You were all certified, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to work you to the bone tonight.

 **Ron, Brick, Bonnie and Tara all gain firearms at 1 mote.**

Well, everyone except Mankey, since he was new. It warmed your heart to get something he didn't, even if you knew he'd work at it over the week. He was just that kind of guy. Most of the time, Mister B just loomed over him and focused his time on making sure that the almost-monkey knew how to be safe. It was kinda cool how much Mister B cared about you guys. Some people probably would have just let you go nuts, but he made sure you all understood the fundamentals first.

You were working on your pistol groupings when Shego slunk into the range. From what little you could see of her she looked like she'd had better days. She was wearing a trenchcoat, a big hat, and a huge pair of sunglasses, but underneath that she looked even paler than usual, and her eyes looked pretty bloodshot from the brief glimpse you got when she lowered her sunglasses to get a better look at your target .

She walked up to you slowly, without making any sudden moves. You put down your gun and turn to her, and she responds, "Jeez Stoppable when you said meet you in the Lowerton Gun Club I didn't think THIS was what I'd find when I followed the noise!"

You shrugged in response, "Mister B got the range for us, and we need the practice."

Shego looked a bit closer at your target, and you think her eyes are narrowing behind her shades.

"How long have you been doing this Stoppable?"

Weird question, "This is my second session. First time I touched a gun was last Sunday."

Shego looks from your target, filled with bullet holes, back to your pistol, "Riiiiiiight."

Her head rises up for a moment in contemplation, "Were those all with that pistol there?"

"Mhm," you told her, "I got way better groupings with the rifles. This thing is cool, but it's super hard to aim with." Seriously, you managed way more solid groupings with the rifle, you only managed to get half your shots in the target's head with the pistol. The movies lied to you about handgun accuracy!

You can't tell whether Shego agrees with you or not. She's resting her face in the palm of her hand like Drakken did something stupid again, but you're not sure how to interpret that here and now.

Given that she is here though, you decide to get the whole club together and introduce her. It takes a bit of doing, noise canceling earmuffs make it hard to get someone's attention verbally after all, butt eventually the whole club is standing in a semi circle around you and Shego.

"OK guys," you said "This is the sort-of recruit I told you about. Now, before you guys make any sudden reactions, I want you to remember that we're targeting things that are superhuman, so it makes sense to have a superhuman on our side. This is Shego."

Shego took off her hat and her hair fell down her back, but she kept her shades on. The club was a bit shocked by this, before Tara of all people was the one to break the silence.

"Uh, Ron," she asked tremulously, "Isn't she, like, a supervillain? Why's she interested in helping save people?"

"Oh, I'm not, Cheery," Shego smirked, "I'm interested in getting into some good, tough fights. Stoppable here impressed me last week, and I want to see what's got him doing something besides running around without his pants on."

No one was quite sure how to react to that, but a few of your friends had... odd looks on their faces at that declaration. Vivian and Mister B are the only ones who looked to be taking Shego's appearance in stride, though neither of them looks super happy about it.

"Also," you put in, "Shego's not going to be joining joining. Like Vivian, she's going to be something of a part timer. Vivian is helping out in prep work and security stuff, but Shego is going to be available when we need to hunt something down and end it. They're both going to be a really big help!" And then they both looked at you. You weren't really comfortable with that, so you hurried on.

"Alright guys here's the plan for Next Week!"

 **Major Category - Team Action**

 **[X] Conspiracies, Myths and Legends:** Mister B has decided to start a supernatural study group elective. Help him set things up and sign up for the course yourself, you can always use more electives on your transcript. **Incompatible with What's the Sitch?**

 **Major Category - Assignments (Assign Ron, Barkin, Tara, Brick, Bonnie and Josh. Shego can only be assigned to missions, and Vivian to non Missions)**

 **Information Gathering**

[X] Oh Nos! There's a nosferatu looking into your group but you… don't really know what that means. Vivian said she could get you some information and Barkin said he'd be willing to give you a writeup on what he knows on them if you'd be willing to have them spend the time doing so. You could have the others do that, but it seems like a waste of time and resources.  
-[X] Vivian  
[X] Howling at the moon. Okay, werewolves are apparently just as real as vampires here. Fantastic. You know absolutely nothing about them. ...Less fantastic. Now, you're pretty sure Mr Barkin has an idea about what makes them tick and how to hunt them but you'd need to make sure he has enough time to compile a full report. Viv could probably work on that too, if you've given her the time.  
-[X]Barkin

[X] Rumor mongering: Okay, so you know there's supernatural stuff going on in the city. Now you just need to figure out where, what and why. The first thing you should do is send someone out to look for the strange, the crazy or the plain weird and see what you find out. Of course, you can only look so far right now.  
-[X] Lowerton  
-[X] Brick, Bonnie  
-[X] Middleton  
-[X] Ron, Tara  
-[X] Upperton  
-[X] Josh

 **Major Category - Free Time (Choose Two)** [X] The Man in your Corner Pocket. So, turns out when you give Brick direction he excels! Maybe you should get to know him a bit better if you're going to be hunting supernatural critters with him? There's got to be more to him than your stereotypical jock right?

[X] Senior privilege. Shego says that she's got a very… unique opportunity for training if you'd be willing to spend some time next week around her. It is enticing, but the way she phrased unique really didn't sound good to you. Then again, sometimes your opportunities did come in strange packages. Incompatible with What's the Sitch?

 **Free Actions (Due to your savvy decision making you have two of these this week, though one is locked in)**

[X] Continue writing to your Pen Pal. You've done enough groundwork that this will proceed without further input until a threshold is met.

[X] Go to the Movies: With who? Pick any number of Characters to go with, though you only have two vouchers… (SELECT ONE)  
-[X] You could ask Shego, though you're not sure whether she'd accept or even what movie she'd go for.


	15. Week 7 part 1- Senior Skip week

It really wasn't a difficult decision to make.

"Brick, I want you to investigate for things in Lowerton. Bonnie, I want you to help your boyfriend out. Got it?" They both nodded in assent, and you turned to Tara.

"Okay, I want you to help me give one last comb-over of Middleton. I want to make sure we didn't miss anything happening there." She gave you a thumbs up.

You looked over to Josh, who was still fiddling with the pistol Mr Barkin gave him. "Okay, your first assignment will be looking into Upperton and telling me if anything creepy is going on. Got it?"

"Yes Ron," he nodded solemnly.

Finally you confronted the two of your group with actual experience. "Vivian, I want you to get what information you have on Nosferatu vampires in a report soon. Mr Barkin I want info on werewolves and how to get rid of them." You turned towards the group. "Everyone has their job, let's make sure it gets done."

And that was that. It wasn't long after that you were walking back home with the thoughts of what else you wanted to do this week on your mind. You'd already thought about getting something for Tara and trying to see if she was okay, but something about that whole situation unsettled you. Maybe you were just missing something? You could also spend that time with Brick. You hardly knew the guy, and he was one of the first people on your team! If something was going wrong you probably wouldn't have even noticed. That thought was depressing in and of itself since he was kinda your friend, right? Maybe you should spend more time with him. Still, that meant you could probably meet with both of them now that you weren't hated by pretty much anyone not Kim or Monique at school anymore.

"Hey, Sidekick." In the familiar car, Shego called out to you. Really, it would probably be best if you just ignored her. She wouldn't call you for anything other than a joke.

 ***BEEEP***

Turning around you walked to the plain "What do you want Shego?" Better to just end the suffering no-

"I have another offer for you," She gave you a predatory smile, "You see, a friend of yours had an opening for a training gig and I was going to take it up. I figured having a dummy for the guy would make things even easier for me." Well, that was certainly interesting. But, then again...

"Why would I subject myself to pain when I don't have to, Shego?" She rolled her eyes at you.

"You'll be paid for your help, doy. If not by me, then by the client. Señor Senior is a generous man, after all." Oh! That's who she was working for. Yeah, that made sense. Junior wasn't exactly a great fighter, and really, SSS was one of the few people outside of school you could even really call a friend. It had been a while since you'd seen those two guys…

"You know what? Yeah, I'll do that. When do I need to meet up?" It sounded interesting enough. And Tara was a big girl, she'd probably be able to work out whatever problems she had. Bonnie was her best friend after all, she wouldn't let Tara just sulk like that anymore.

"I'll pick you up at your place after school tomorrow then. I'm sure Junior will love using you as a punching bag." She drove away after that, leaving you on the path back home.

You really hoped you didn't just do something stupid. Before you could even complete that thought, you heard the familiar ringing in your phone.

Looked like it was mission time.

XxX

Okay, you knew it was time for you to select electives and that Kim really wanted photography. None of that explained why you had to base jump into the school to make sure you got a good class.

"Can't we just land on the road, Kim? I mean, it seems a lot smarter to-"

"Come on Ron! We're going to be late if we do that! Colonel Dmitry, this is our stop!" At that, the masked colonel nodded with what you could only assume was a sadistic smile under his helmet as he pushed the big red button. You could only conclude one thing as the seats ejected from the plane.

Kim was trying to kill you. Of course, none of that stopped you from ditching the seat as the parachute opened. And aiming for the softest looking patch of ground while you screamed. Honestly you were surprised you were even able to manage this thing much le-

The wind had to pick up right then, didn't it. Looking to the side you saw Kim touching down on the other side of the street when you felt your body come to a sudden stop. Pushing down on the straps, you maneuvered your arms out of the tight bindings and rode the flagpole down to the ground.

"Nice dismount, Ron. You've been getting better," Monique gave an approving nod before looking back over at Kim, "So, like I was saying, you're going to need to hurry. Spots for photography are filling up fast."

"Thanks Monique! I guess we'll have to hurry then," you felt your collar being grabbed as Kim ran into the school with you in tow. After a while, she finally slowed her pace as she approached a huge line of people waiting to get their electives chosen.

"Well, I just hope that Photography's still open." Well, that was a losing priority. Time to give her a bit of Ron-flavored wisdom.

"Kim, Kim, Kim. You're doing this wrong. You've gotta have a backup, and a backup for your backup. It's the only way to make sure you're still golden!" She nodded, before stopping.

"Wait, didn't you only put one class on the list? Ancient mythology or something?"

"Yeah, but I know the guy running the class. He's saved me a seat so I'm already good." After all, Mr. Barkin said he'd keep one open for any member of the Club that wanted to sign up. He just needed to skip sleep last night to get all of the paperwork finished apparently.

"So, what? You think I should just sign up for Kickboxing or Interpretive dance?"

"Yeah, that seems like a good idea," you nodded. With a look of hope, she scratched down the two new electives as the line grew thinner. Finally, you found yourself facing Mr Barkin as you both turned in your papers. He checked yours off quickly before looking over Kim's.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Possible but Kickboxing, Interpretive dance and Photography have all been filled. You'll need to choose another class." You could see the color drain out of KP's face as she looked down at the list in shock.

"Well, what's left?" Mr. B leafed through the papers before looking back to the two of you.

"There's Home Economics and the new class, Conspiracies, Myths and Legends. Both have free seats. Home Ec doesn't have students however so it should be any easy A. Maybe I should just sign you up for i-"

"I WOULD LIKE THE OTHER CLASS PLEASE!" Wow, Kim almost yelled that. God, there was a look of pure fear on her face? Was learning about small-household management really that scary?

"Fine. I'll see you two tomorrow at fifth period. Good luck." You turned around to leave, happy that this was all over with. You had bigger things to do, after all.

XxX

"Okay, Sidekick? Don't fuck this up for me." You got in the fancy black sportscar next to the Green Villainess in full getup. You'd made sure that no one was around this time, and you were wearing more weather-fitting clothes so that any evidence you were there was completely deniable. You were working with Shego, but Kim didn't need to know that.

After an hour of driving at speeds you were sure broke the limits twice over you'd finally arrived at the Senior Mansion. You still had no idea how you'd managed that given it was on a privately owned island in the Azores. Then again, you _were_ pretty busy screaming for dear life as she broke every traffic law ever written. Maybe you had gone aerial at some point?

As she stopped her car in the parking lot that the place paradoxically had, you took a few seconds to catch your breath before going in. Señor Senior was standing there, talking to his son while Shego stood right next to him. He wasn't focused on you, and you were pretty sure Junior didn't notice you were there either. You walked into hearing range, hoping to catch some of the conversation.

"-a tutor in villainy." Junior finally turned to Shego, as if only noticing her presence now.

"Could you move? You are blocking my sun." Ohh, bad move. Before he could react Shego had already kicked him off of the chair and smashed it to bits before moving her burning hands to his face.

"Lesson one. Eyes wide, especially to people who can hurt you. I'm here to teach you, though I have enlisted some help." She finally acknowledged your presence, pointing it out to both of the men standing before you. Señor Senior Senior seem very pleased to see you.

"Ahh, Mr. Stoppable. When Shego told me that she would be bringing an extra to help I certainly did not expect it to be you. How are you young man?" At least someone had manners.

"I'm doing well sir. How are you?" It really was pretty nice to see him again, even if that meant getting beaten up.

"Father, you cannot be serious?! I understand learning from her, but what can the sidekick teach me?" Wow, rude.

"I would not underestimate him, my son. You know that he is more dangerous than meets the eye." Yeah, listen to Mr. Senior, Junior! He knew what was up!

"Please father, everyone knows that he is only Kim Possible's sidekick. He is not dangerous. He could hardly challenge me in battle even without training!" Okay, now you were annoyed. Time to start helping Shego train this twerp. Luckily, Junior's already turned to his father in complaint.

"He also has a gun." You point said gun at Junior's face.

"He also has a gun, father. You see, he's no- Wait, what did yo-AIEEEEEE!" With a shriek he fell into the pool in an effort to get away from the pistol. It was unloaded, the safety was on, and you knew you were still violating what Mr. B had taught you, but his face was kinda worth it. Seizing the moment, Shego turned to the soaked boy.

"Lesson two. Never, _EVER_ think someone is harmless." With a wolfish grin, she picked him out of the pool. "Now, let's begin."

Taking Junior over her shoulder, Shego was lead by Señor Senior to the classroom where there were two seats set. You would comment on the how rich and powerful the place looked, but you were more impressed that he'd managed to get something for you so easily. He'd probably also been the one to set things up with School so you could have intermittent attendance this week and not get in trouble for skipping. Shego dropped Junior into his seat, and you took the one right next to him. The guy was soaking wet, and you couldn't help but feel sorry for surprising him so badly, much less the small amount of enjoyment you'd felt. Still, you had an extra class to attend, and you'd pay attention to this one. It was way more interesting than English! Shego started to draw on the chalkboard, scratching away before turning to the two of you.

"Now, I'm the one here to train you pathetic ne'er-do-wells into competent villains. So let's get started. What is the first thing every villain needs?"

Junior raised his hand vigorously. "I know this one. An evil laugh."... Really?

"No, what any true villain needs is a giant doom laser with which to destroy his foes!" Yeah, you'd seen Drakken do it enough so he had to be onto something.

"Villainous calling cards are more important than that, Ron." Oh, he did not just go there.

"Well I think Spinning Tops of Doom are more important than your calling cards, laugh, or a good spray tan." He reeled back in horror at your bold statement, but he couldn't deny it, you were right!

Shego was too busy facepalming to do anything but speak. "Okay, you," she pointed at Junior, "were raised by your father whose perceptions are… different than most villains, but you," a finger was jabbed in your face, "Why would you believe such idiocy?"

"Well, Drakken's the villain I know best and h-"

"Do you really want to use Dr. D as a successful example for anything villainy related?"

"Noted." Really, in hindsight that probably wasn't your smartest move.

"The first thing every villain needs is the tools of the trade. Be prepared for tomorrow, because I'm taking you two on a fieldtrip."

XxX

"The world has revolved around mythology since humans were huddling around a fire in dank, stinking caves. If you've read a book, seen a TV show or watched a movie, you're a part of it. The world is filled with myths and legends of all kinds. This class will be about digging deeper, and looking into the very things that people in the past and even today use to explain how the world works. From Monsters to Vampires to Area 51 your job will be to learn about some of the more... _interesting_ ideas out there. I expect nothing but diligence and hard work from all of you. I hope you all find some enjoyment in this class." Mr. Barkin finished his speech, looking over the bored crowd of students. You met his stare, and gave him a small nod. Kim was too busy sulking to care, muttering something about aluminum hats. You almost wanted to correct her, and say that they were tinfoil but you were pretty sure that… wouldn't end well. Brick sat with his attention firmly on the blackboard. The old home ec room had been converted into a display of news clippings and pictures, most heavily focused around the front wall. Beside him, Josh was taking note of some of the more interesting photos while he idly doodled in a notebook. Otherwise, he was attentive. Next to him was Crystal, who apparently learned he was in the class and signed up to fawn over him. It was actually kinda sickening. Past her was Zita of all people, and wasn't it a badical surprise to have her here? Apparently, she was interested in this sort of stuff. Behind her was some dark haired creep with glasses and ruffles you didn't know, but he gave you a bad vibe.

You had a good feeling about this class, despite the few problems you had. You looked back to Mr Barkin.

"Now, the first thing you need to know about this class is the grading. You'll be here to report on strange phenomena or ideas that have popped up throughout human history. You will work on assignments about the supernatural and by the end of the school year I will want a paper from each of you on some subject not covered in class. You will have to get it confirmed by me so we don't have duplicates or pieces that cross with the class material, but other than that I am open to suggestions. Your idea will be due next week. If you can't come up with an idea I will assign one, but you may not like the assignment."

Well, that was one way to start class. Now you just needed to figure out what you'd write on. But that could be saved for later, you had some... other priorities right about now.

XxX

"Could we not just buy these items?" Clambering up the wall beside you, Junior asked the question you had on your mind ever since Shego flew the two of you to Paris with the objective of 'acquiring the tools of the trade'.

"No. Criminals don't buy anything." Yeah! That made tota- waiit.

"That seems like a really dumb rule, Shego. I mean, buying things makes more sense. It means we don't have to steal them and no one calls the cops on us." Junior gave you a nod.

"Stoppable is right. Why would we risk ourselves when we could take the easy route?" The villainess rolled her eyes as she melted the lock.

"Because buying things leaves a paper trail, which is a bad thing when you're a known villain. Besides, this gives you something money can't buy,... experience." Ehh, you guessed that made sense.

"Fair point."

"Good, now we've got some tools to get. Hop to it, students."

Three coils of rope, pairs of infrared goggles, grappling hooks and parachutes later you were finished. It was challenging, if not something you weren't used to. The strangest thing was that you felt like you should've regretted it more. It wasn't like you enjoyed theft, you considered this more like Hunter-business than anything, an evil, but a necessary one. You couldn't really bring yourself to care though. And these guys were probably insured anyway. The only thing you couldn't agree with was Junior's attempt to hit Francois' parlor.

Once you told Shego about what he was going to do though, he received a fairly painful reminder of his objectives. When that was all finished, the three of you went back to jet she'd parked in a private airfield just outside of town. As she lifted off, she decided to impart another lesson on the two of you.

"Lesson Four. Always have an escape route. Now that you've got your gear, hair care excluded," she shot a gaze at Junior, "We'll be working on the next step when we get back."

Minutes later, you were there. Having a supersonic jet provided by Señor Senior Senior was really convenient. As you landed down, he waiting for the two of you.

"Ahh, Junior. I thought that now would be a good time to work on our evil lau-" ..Aaaand he just blew past his father. Rude.

"Sorry, Señor Senior Senior. We've got training to do. Maybe later? He's doing really well right now." The older man gave you a smile before you rushed after the others. Shego was already in the front and Junior in his seat.

"Well, since you're late Sidekick you get to answer the question." Oh no, you were having flashbacks to a time before Barkin was cool. "After you've gotten the basics, what is the one thing every villain needs to succeed?" Wait, you had this one!

"Goals." Yeah, every villain had an evil plan they needed to fulfill, and you weren't a supervillain if you didn't go large.

"Yes. Every villain needs their plot. Drakken? Taking over the world. Always."

"Oooh, I like the sound of that. Can we do that one?" Well, looks like he inherited his taste for goals from his father. That totally sounded like something Señor Senior Senior would say. Didn't make him any less wrong, though.

"If Drakken failed every time, then how do you think you would do, Junior? You gotta start small."

"He's right. We'll start with something easier. Maybe thieving would probably work." She looked to be deep in thought. "It would have to be something valuable and heavily guarded. Let's see. Almost got something. Hold on. No, no. Don't say a word. It's on the tip of my tongue.

I got it."

Right then had to be when Señor Senior walked in, of course. "Hello, I thought I'd see how you kids were doing? Have I come at a bad time?"

Shego let out a groan. "And now I've lost it."

Junior turned on his dad with a look of anger sculpted into his face. "Father!"

You shrugged. "Its no big. I mean it's not like there's going to be a sudden end to valuable things being heavily guarded. It's fine."

Junior turned to you. "But he ruined the moment, Stoppable! That's just not right!"

The older man looked at both of you, aggrieved. "Well, if I did so, I must apologize. I will see myself out then." He walked out of the room with a sad pace to his steps.

Shego took that as her sign to continue. "Okay, my idea's gone. Either of you figure out something that he could steal?" Well, there was one way you could figure that out.

"We could look up 'Valuable' and 'Heavily Guarded' on the internet." Huh, seems Junior was running on the same idea you were.

"Yeah, it's not like there aren't rich idiots who want to flaunt their wealth to people, right?" … You could think of a few already, actually, though most of the one's you knew were at least nice to you and Kim when you helped them. Well, except for Hench. But you weren't going to mess with him without a way better reason than 'because I can.' That would... not end well. You shuddered.

While you said that, Junior had already rolled up to the computer and began working. Gesticulating, he triumphantly showed you and Shego findings. As you saw it you could only conclude that Junior was indeed evil.

...Though at the very least he had good taste.

XxX

As Shego took Junior to go scope out the place, you took the opportunity to go scope out the bits of Middleton in more depth for news. There… wasn't really much. Like, not anything. You'd knocked on the door of the local fire departments, talked to the owner of the Middleton Meddler, and even went around asking if people had been seeing anything weird lately.

You'd been coming up dry. It was actually kind of disappointing to be honest. Still, at least those people knew who you were, and that you'd be interested if any weird stuff was going down. About the only thing of any use you found was your mail, and with it a new letter from your Pen Pal!

Dear Ron,

THERE IS NO SUCH THINGS AS GHOSTS! NO WAY NO HOW NO TWO WAYS ABOUT IT! NO GHOSTS!

What I mean to say is, thank you so much for the cook book. I wasn't sure about it at first, I'm not that big on cheese, but after I read it for a bit I started getting really into it. My family all liked the recipes I tried out, and I thought the little notes that you and your nana left in it were adorable. I wish I was that close with anyone in my family. Though, the cook book did get my dad to start talking about my 'Uncle Vlad.' Apparently, his old best friend in college (who was almost my godfather!) was really big into the Greenbay Packers and fed my parents a lot of cheese cooked with recipes from the very same book as the one you sent me back in the day!

Now, on a more serious note, I don't know why you think superstition is a good thing. Superstitions hold people back, they are the opposite of science. Hokey stories and weird traditions aren't something to be proud of! They're just the remnants of a primitive past that humanity has grown out of! My parents obsession is just holding them back. My mom is brilliant, she could be a world renowned scientist if she wasn't so fixated on the paranormal! My dad... well he loves me and my brother, and he tries to be a good dad, but his ghost focus makes it super hard for him to actually succeed!

If you saw any of their technology you'd know what I was talking about! It's such a waste! In fact, if it's the only way for you to realize how Not Real ghosts are, then you're welcome to come visit and see for yourself how silly the whole thing is!

Hoping to see you soon,  
Sincerely,  
Jazz

P.S. I also really hope you're taking care of Bearbert!

OK, you were sensing that this whole Ghost Issue was a bit more of a sore subject than you thought. Still, it was nice that a whole new family was enjoying your and your Nana's cooking! Speaking more carefully, maybe it'd be a good idea if you did talk to her about this whole Ghost thing in person. Jazz seemed like a pretty down to earth girl, if you just chatted to her about it, and gave her another non-parental perspective, she'd probably calm down a bit. Maybe you should take her up on that visit idea? Well, once you had a bit less on your plate, of course.

Dear Jazz,

You're very welcome for the Cook Book. I'm glad that everyone liked it. That's cool about you having an almost godfather, or at least I assume he's almost since this sounds like the first time you've heard of him? Maybe you can ask your dad about him, and try and find the guy. He can't be any crazier than you say your parents are, right?

As far as superstition being good goes, well, it's like this. Most often that stuff has a basis in reality. We don't always know what it is, but it's almost always there in the beginning. Here's an example: I'm Jewish, and even though we don't keep Kosher (the very idea of no Naco's makes me shudder in fear), I learned about the Kosher rules when I was a kid. Most of the rules there exist because all the stuff you're not supposed to eat? If it's cooked improperly, it can kill you, really easily. So, people who kept Kosher lasted longer than ones who didn't, because they didn't die of food poisoning. There's some truth in everything!

As far as visiting you goes, I'd love to! I haven't ever been to a city in Minnesota, though Kim did save a few logging camps from a horde of rabid bears once. I'm not sure what seeing your parents' technology would prove to me, but you'd know better than I would! I can get transport pretty easy for a weekend or something, and I can make the time if I need to, when's good for your schedule?

Hoping to see you soon too!

Sincerely,  
Ron

P.S. Of course I'm taking care of Bearbert! The little dude is awesome! And Kim totally loved him just like I said she would!

There, that should do it, and now to get some schoolwork done so you don't fall behind with all this villainy! You pause for a moment of silent grief at that thought. What has your life become that you could think that with a straight face!?

XxX

The rest of the week progressed quite easily, really. You were there to serve as Shego's training dummy and Junior's sparring partner. It was actually quite challenging to do, though you found yourself winning more than you lost. As Wednesday blurred into Thursday and then into Friday you found the fights got harder. Junior learned fast, and started to apply himself with vigor as you continued. Heck, he'd been advancing so fast that you'd actually had to pull your gun on him once during your sparring today.

After sparring, they went over the plan, with you serving as the stand in for security guard, stationary defenses or the other things they'd knew about when they scouted the place and got blueprints. You even got a copy of the layout yourself, since you were to help Junior come up with a plan.

It wasn't really that hard, given he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders about this stuff when he actually tried. You were kind of proud of him.

Wait, that didn't come out right. He was excelling in being a bad guy, after all. Not cool.

He went from from garbage to grande pretty quickly though, and you were sure he'd be able to steal the item he was looking for. You didn't have any complaints about how you were treated either, Shego always seemed to know when to stop or when to cut in herself. It was really strange, so much so that you asked her about it on Thursday.

Apparently, she has a teaching degree. Whoda thunk? Then again, Shego enjoyed destroying people and there was nothing more soul crushing than high school, so it made a horrific kind of sense.

The one thing that really didn't click was how they were treating Señor Senior Senior. You knew that Junior was dedicated to what he wanted, but that wasn't going to give him an excuse to just push his dad out all the time. You could see him getting frustrated and that wasn't good. You watched as Junior completed the run in time, coming out of the vault to a proud Shego. She almost looked like a teacher, but a large part of your brain still couldn't see it.

"That was... perfect, Junior! You're ready for the real deal." He seemed ecstatic to have finally made it and, just like clockwork, that was when Señor Senior stepped in.

"Good job, my so-" ...Aaaand there he goes. Wow, that was even worse than usual even if you'd already expected it. But enough was enough, and you had to do something about this before the bad thing you knew was about to happen happened. You reached for the door.

"Hey, Stoppable. Where are you going? We were about to decide on a place to go celebrate my improvement before the heist! You should come along!" Well, there was no one who could say Junior wasn't gracious when he wasn't in villain mode. But you really wanted some alone time to check up on Señor Senior. That meant you needed a distraction.

And you think you had just the one.

"Why don't you guys just go without me? I kinda want to stay here for a while and chill out." You pulled out the gift Vivian had given you. "Why don't you guys go watch a movie on me? You get free popcorn and good seating too."

Señor Junior looked at the vouchers, inspecting them rather heavily before snatching them away. "Thank you Ronald, I will enjoy the movie twice as much for your generosity!"

The two went off on a private jet while you entered into the living room. Señor Senior sat there, with a glass of alcohol in his right hand. He looked really sad, though he did perk up when he saw you take a seat beside him.

"Ah, Ronald. To what do I owe the pleasure? I thought you would be away celebrating with Shego and my son." He sagged a bit at the mention of the pair, but otherwise tried to remain cheery.

"Well, I wanted to check up on you. You seemed like you were down in the dumps and that's not you."

"You are correct, Ronald. This is not like me, and I am proud of how far my son has come in such a short time after so long without progress, I just… feel that it is at the cost of my own bond with him." He took a sip from the glass. "He seems more distant and cold to me. Sometimes I think he does not even want me around!"

"Well, you do have a habit of interrupting at bad times sir." He chuckled at that.

"It seems that I do. I do not think that I should trouble you with my own business, Ronald, but I am glad you are willing to lend me an ear." Hey, what were cool sidekicks for other than to help people!

"Its no big Señor Senior Senior. I just wanted to help." His eyebrow shot up at that.

"How remarkably...heroic of you. And here I had thought you had decided to take to the path of evil. That is quite a pity. Though, it does bring me to a question: Why are you here, Ronald? Shego said you had agreed to help her for reasons she would not state, but you are not an evil man, Ronald. So why would you chose to help her?" Hmm, that was an interesting question. Then again, you felt you already had an answer right in your gut. Or maybe your spleen? Large intestine? Ah, it was all part of the same system anyway.

"Pragmatism, Sir. She… caught me in a situation and position I really would prefer she didn't and now she's helping me with something."

"I repeat. You are not an evil man, Ronald. What could you have done to have given her reason to think she could use something against you?" He started to take another swig.

"I… may have burned down somebody's house," And now he was choking a bit in response, "It's not what you think, sir. I had a really good reason to do it." He motioned for you to stop as he coughed out the bit of fluid that went down the wrong pipe.

"And what exactly is that reason, Ronald? It seems to be a very important piece of this story." Well, you know, there really wasn't any way you could get around this. Not without lying or making things seem worse than they already were.

"...There was a vampire inside the house." Both of his eyebrows shot up, but he still motioned for you to continue despite the apparent disbelief written on his face. "Now, I know you don't believe me but I saw the guy eating someone and I just needed to keep him from hurting other people and I no-" He silenced you by holding up his hand.

"I believe your story, Ronald. It sounds quite outlandish, but I have no reason to suspect you of deception. I have always found you to be a young man of great insight. If you say there was a vampire, then I shall believe you." Wow, that was easy.

"Thank you, Señor Senior. Now, that's the reason I'm here, but let's talk about why I'm here." You pointed toward the ground. "You seem really bummed that you can't get Junior to come back and listen to you, right?"

He nodded. "I am worried about how my relationship with my Son will fare, yes."

"Well, I have an idea on how we can fix that."

"You have my attention, Ronald."

"Well, he respects Shego because she's the best villain he knows. We just need to convince him that you're better by using one of the oldest villain tricks in the books." He perked up at the thought, giving you a tentative smile.

"Well, I would love to hear what this trick is. If it can help convince my son, then I will be more than happy to aid you." You leaned toward him, with the most vicious smile you could muster. It probably only rated at sad puppies on the scale of smiley face to death star, but what did you care?

"It's simple, really. We exercise the good old evil tradition of the 'backstab'. If we beat Junior and Shego at their own game, then he must conclude that you are the better villain." He nodded, sporting a similar wolfish smile.

"...You have my support in whatever your plan is." He straightened up. "Now, I know you would love to do this for my own benefit, and for that I am deeply grateful, however I cannot in good conscience allow you to go through with this without payment."

"Well, if you can get me the gear for this, letting me keep that stuff should be fine," oh no, he was giving you the disappointed stare, "aaaaaand maybe I could use a few documents that I need to be totally above board but can't get. How does six pairs of open and concealed carry licenses sound?"

His face went back to a neutral expression. "I can arrange that. You shall get them when they are ready. Now, how do you think we should go about this?"

"Well, I already have plan. That cookie recipe is going to be as good as ours."

 **Choose one**

[X] Plan Keep it Simple Stupid: Shego and Junior were going to be robbing the place, and you could use that. After all, their entire plan was based on stealth and the element of surprise. Have Vivian set off the alarms remotely way early, and you've gotten yourself a very nice distraction while you go in and rob the place. It would keep any threat they represent to a minimal level.  
Team: Ron, Señor Senior Senior, and Vivian  
Gear: x6 Henchco Dusk Ops suits, x6 silenced pistols, x1 lockpicking device, x2 tear gas grenades


	16. Week 7 part 2- Learning a New Recipe

"Well, we're going to do it like this- I've got a friend that can get into the security system and make sure the alarm goes off early on the two of them. With most of the guards tied up fighting the two of them I should be able to sneak in and get out without a lot of difficulty. So long as I can take out anyone that catches me there, we should be able to go in and out without any difficulty. I just need the gear." You paused. "Heck, I won't need some specialized thing. Get me gear that you can get a few extra suits with whatever money you're putting on this. I'm confident I'll be able to get through this without any problem." You didn't need power armor when you had comically large air ducts and dumb security guards to help you.

"That sounds rather… simple, Ronald. Are you sure it will work?"

"Pfft, of course it will. Just be ready to pick me up tomorrow and we'll get this done easy peasy." Didn't he know that complicated plans failed a lot? That was how you alway beat Dr Drakken- he'd always made his ideas waaaay to complex for what he wanted to do.

"Then I will place my faith in you. Now, as I understand it you sacrificed some tickets to the movies so that we could have this talk?" You nodded, and he chuckled a little, "Well, I know my son will enjoy his time there, but I would not like you to leave having lost such an opportunity. If you would like, I could guide you to this house's personal theater and we could go view some old videos of mine. I think you would enjoy them…" Well, it wasn't like you had much else to do and it wouldn't hurt to hang out with him anyway. You just hoped he didn't watch boring movies like your mom did…

XxX

Well, this certainly wasn't boring! The Seniors had a world class setup home theater setup. In fact, you think this was literally a bigger, better fidelity screen than the Middleton Cineplex had! And the seats! Super comfy, super plush, you were Super Relaxed and prepared to enjoy a show! And what a show it was!

As you would tell anyone who bothered to listen for five minutes you loved wrestling. It had been one of the greatest moments of your life to see Steel Toe and Pain King vs The Jackal live in Middleton! You'd heard about masked wrestling as it was performed south of the border, but you'd never seen any luchadores actually wrestle. You regretted that now. This was the most amazing wrestling you'd ever seen in your LIFE!

Seriously! This team match featured the wrestlers being thrown at each other by their teammates and then spinning around them to drop them to the ring! IT WAS AWESOME!

You must have said that out loud, because Senor Senior Senior started to chuckle, "Yes Ronald, it is quite Awesome."

"Señor Senior, what IS this?! I've heard of Luchadores, but this is crazy! And amazing! And GREAT!"

Señor Senior Senior continued to laugh gently, "Ah, my young friend, the art of Masked Wrestling is indeed one of the greatest forms of competitions and spectacle a man can participate in." He paused for a moment before winking at you, "But I may be biased. After all, the older of the two gentlemen in the red and yellow masks may look familiar to you."

Huh? You took another closer look at the match. There were four wrestlers in this match. Two of them were clearly the good guys and two the bad. All four of them were big hulking guys, if not quite big the same way Steel Toe and Pain King were. They were a bit sleeker, more streamlined. The bad guys names were El Malefico and El Zorro Gris. El Malefico had a black mask with purple highlights that looked like your stereotypical supervillain disguise, and El Zorro Gris had a silver and white number. The good guys both had red and yellow as their colors. The younger of the two was built like a truck, even for a wrestler. The announcer had called him El Toro Fuerte, and he couldn't have been much older than you were right now. The other guy though, El Pantera Roja, he was different.

He was full grown for one thing, and he was really broad across his shoulders. Kinda like Junior now that you thought about it. You looked from the screen to Señor Senior, who was grinning at you and making a wrestling pose in his seat.

"No way," you said in shock, "YOU WERE EL PANTERA ROJA!?"

Señor Senior paused the video and nodded in glee, "Indeed my young friend, I was once the most renowned wrestler in all of Mexico. Famed across the land as a champion of justice and a savior of the innocent!"

You blinked for a minute, taking that in, before an obvious question presented itself. "Uh, how'd you go from wrestler to billionaire?"

Señor Senior sighed, "I am afraid that if a Masked Wrestler loses his mask, he is forced to retire for all time. One day, there came an opponent who dealt that great shame to me, and El Pantera Roja was no more, only Señor Senior remained." He turned back to the screen, where El Toro Fuerte was frozen in the process of subduing El Zorro Gris. "My young protegee reclaimed my mask from the foul villain who had taken it, but it was too late. I could no longer wrestle. I left Mexico in shame, and sought my fortune elsewhere."

He stood and gestured around him with his cane, "All this you see Ronald, came from the lessons I learned in the ring. I placed one hundred percent of myself in all I did, and was rewarded with wealth beyond the dreams of avarice. If you can sell a move or a match well, you can sell anything."

Okay... you guessed that made sense. There was still one important question though, "If you don't mind me asking Señor Senior, if you were a Champion of Justice and Savior of the Innocent... why'd you decide to become a supervillian?"

Señor Senior grins at you, "Ronald, after you inspired me, I realized that I had all the necessary equipment already. When one is as fabulously wealthy as I, the trappings required for Super Villainy are but a mere bagatelle. Super Villainy is a hobbie."

He shoots you a narrow harsh eyed look, "One I am quite devoted to!" before continuing in a calmer, softer voice, "This does not mean I do not still care for the innocent. I take care only to strike those who have earned or may withstand my wrath, and I do in fact take advantage of a number of charities as a loophole. Is it not Evil and Criminal not to pay one's taxes after all? Come Ronald! Laugh with me! Laugh with me!" He laughs again, and you join him, because honestly? The fact that one of the coolest guys you know is even cooler than you thought AND has a great sense of humor? That's worth a big belly laugh!

xXx

It was Saturday Morning, and you were home for the moment. Things were at a low boil over on the Shego Front, and you'd gotten off Friday early enough to have dinner with your parents. You couldn't always manage that, missions being what they were, but you were always glad when you could. Your family may not have been the most observant one in the world, but it was nice having shabbas dinner with your parents regardless.

Still, it was Saturday now, and you had an appointment to get to! You were going to be spending some time today with Brick. You kinda hadn't spent much time with him at all. Ever. Given you were running a paramitiltary group it made sense for you to actually get to know all your teammates. You'd spent time with Bonnie and Tara, and now it was finally Brick's turn. He'd been surprisingly cool with the idea of hanging out on a Saturday morning. He'd said something about helping Mankey at the shooting range Friday night so waking up wouldn't be a problem.

You arrived at his house at a disgustingly early time for a weekend. It sucked that this was your new normal, but you had to get up pretty early in the morning to learn how to deal with evil man eating monsters. Anyway, it was Saturday Morning, and if you had to be up this early you were going to do the only logical and rational thing anyone would do on Saturday Morning. Watch Cartoons!

So you took your wheels on over to Brick's, along with Rufus, and knocked on his door. He opened it, dressed in casual comfortable clothes, nodded his head in greeting and motioned for you to follow him inside.

The house was nice. Pretty much the same level as yours, which is to say not as nice as Kim's. Not everyone can have a rocket scientist and a brain surgeon for parents after all. Still, whatever Brick's parents did it was clear his family was solidly middle class. You followed him in silence to the family room, and the tv setup located there.

Brick turned on the Fearless Ferret Fights for Freedom and you settled in to vedge for a bit. Eventually though, you had to say _something_.

"So, Brick," you started before falling silent. What did you say to this guy? What did you have in common besides a willingness to, y'know, fight the evil dead?

"Yeah, Ron? What's up?"

"I was curious. Why'd you stick with the whole monster hunting deal? You're popular, star of the football team, the whole nine yards. Why go out and risk your life fighting evil?"

"Same reason you do probably."

Huh? What did that mean-

"Because it's the right thing to do."

You blinked at that. That's... pretty cool of him to say, both about himself and about you.

"Really?" you asked curiously.

"Mhm," he grunted in agreement, "S'not right that innocent people are getting killed or eaten by monsters. Plus, this way I actually get to help people instead of standing around looking pretty."

"What do you mean by that Brick?"

"You know what I mean Ron. I'm not really a person to most of the school. Everybody sees me as a big dumb jock, and I'll admit it, I'm pretty dumb. I mean, I got held back more than once!"

"Hey, yeah, I'd been meaning to ask, how's that work with the Football team? Don't they usually require a certain amount of ...y'know... not failing?"

"I've got a learning disability, and the school works with me. Part of that is that I need to have other ways to show I'm trying, and the football team does that. Probably helps that I've make the school look really good while I've been on the team. You know we've been league champions every year I've been quarterback?"

"Yeah actually. Kinda have to pay attention to the teams when your best friend is captain of the cheer squad. Plus, once I joined up as the Mad Dog I kinda picked up anything I missed by osmosis."

"Right, Possible. Huh, I forgot she was your best friend for a while there. Haven't seen her around when we're hanging out."

"Yeah, Kim's... Kim's great. But. She's not so much a believer in the bloodthirsty undead. Plus, the whole Hunter thing is kinda... morally grey, compared to what she normally does on missions. We burned down a house! Yeah, to kill a vampire, but still that's a felony if we'd got caught!"

"Needed doing though."

"Yeah, I know. It was safer for all of us." You fell silent after that for a bit, just watching the Fearless Ferret beat the tar out of White Stripe. Man, what kind of super villain bases their gimmick off of Skunks?! Whoever he was in real life he must have been one seriously crazed fruit loop! Maybe he was a failed actor or something?

"So... you said you wanted to help people?"

"Yeah man, I'm actually thinking of taking some emt classes, maybe go for paramedic eventually."

"Really?" you asked surprised, "That's a lot of math and work isn't it?"

"Yeah, but it's work that needs doing, and it's probably the best I could manage in medicine. I seriously doubt I could hack medical school, even if any college would let me take pre-med with my permanent record."

"Hey Brick, don't sell yourself short. You put the work in you could do whatever you want. Might mean a _lot_ of math and sciences, and a heck of a lot of tutoring though."

"Yeah, s'why I'm thinking I'd get my feet wet first and see if I could manage EMT or Para."

"That's cool. Helping people for a living is pretty awesome."

"Thanks, Ron."

After that the two of you fell into a bit more of a companionable silence and continued to watch the Fearless Ferret. This guy was awesome! You really hoped you could meet the real Fearless Ferret someday. A superhero from your grandparent's generation would have so many stories to tell! What did they do in the days before GJ? What were the supervillains like before the fad for Evil Scientists?

The morning passed quickly and enjoyably after that. All too soon you had to head out to prepare for your Evil Plan. Well, thwarting other villains probably counted as good, but it's not like you weren't doing it illegally!

xXx

"It's quiet here, Viv." The only thing you could hear was the whistle of the wind in the distance. The mask you had on didn't block much of your vision and the light black fabric wasn't too tight on your skin to have been annoying. The only thing you needed right now was a tan cloak and you thought you could totally pass for some sort of superhero from the government. Or a villain, really.

" _That's good. You shouldn't run into too much trouble. Our unsuspecting friends are approaching the wall now. Start moving._ " Her voice came from the small comms unit Señor Senior provided for the two of you. It was a small thing to request, and apparently his company had a few spares he was willing to give to you. As you walked forward, you got ready to scale the wall into the complex.

"Okay Viv, I'm here."

" _Well then, let's give everyone a little surprise._ " As she finished talking alarms started to blare on the other side of the building, where Shego and Junior had chosen to enter the place. It probably wouldn't be enough to stop them but you had the time you needed to get in and grab the recipe. You threw your grappling hook at the wall, and started to climb. You're pretty sure you broke your own record here, you got to the top in about 30 seconds at most. You knew the layout of the place from the blueprints you'd been given, and you weaved through the corridors without much difficulty.

" _You've got a guard running your way from the left!_ " You heard the sound of footsteps just as she said it, and you looked for some way to hide. Diving behind a potted plant, you scrunched yourself up and waited as the man blasted past, going straight the the battle. You waited a few seconds, before continuing your route to the recipe. There wasn't time to waste when you knew you were racing against Shego for this. A few more twists and turns later, and you knew you were getting close to the cen-

" _There's a guy in front of you sprinting your way! Get out of sight!_ " Heeding Viv's warning, you scanned the hallway only to find nothing. The guy was almost next to you when you figured out your hiding place. With a jump you wrenched your gloved hands onto the wall and plastered your feet to the steel wall. The man stopped for a second, looking around much like you had at the noise your jump made, but the crackling of his radio was enough to get the man going again. Once he was gone, you waited for 30 seconds before hitting the floor again. After a minute or two more of running, you were finally up to the vault.

Taking care, you pulled out a vault-cracker much like what Junior had with him. Carefully, you entered the digits and put the proper inputs in. The wheels spun and you waited around for the tumblers to connect. It was really kinda boring.

"So Viv, how did you get into here?"

" _Well, like any good hacker does- I got the passwords._ " The machine clicked negative, and you set the numbers back up again, making sure you didn't put in the wrong ones or disordered them. From what you could tell, the fight was still going on, and you had time to do this right. A few more seconds and the correct numbers flashed. With a great creak, the metal moved aside and you were in.

" _Don't bother with the infrared goggles. The lasers have been turned off. So has the alarm on the glass._ " You double-checked just to be sure, and they lasers you'd been training to sneak around were indeed not there.

"That's badical, Viv. How'd you do it?" Seriously, this was saving you a lot of time.

" _When I got the password, I forced entries that looked legit or possibly misspelled through accident until the system shut me out. I called the company and told them about the bunk logins, and managed to weasel the administrator's pass from there. With that, I have access to everything here._ " Huh, well that was great. You walked up to the glass, and carefully lifted it up before you took the thing and booked it. The fight was still going on as you got to the wall and climbed down to the outside.

"Am I clear?"

" _Yeah, everyone's more busy with the fight to have noticed you and none of the alarms were tripped._ " Great, now you just had to walk back to the VTOL Señor Senior had prepared for your getaway. As you swung open the door, he started the thing.

"I assume everything went well, Ronald?" You held up the recipe.

"Yeah, it wasn't that hard. I had to dodge a few guards but otherwise it was all smooth sailing. No fighting or anything." He smiled at your confirmation as the craft started to lift off. The ride to back to the island was pleasant. You were busy copying down the recipe word for word so that you could have a copy of the famous Granny Crocket cookies, and besides you didn't want to distract Señor Senior while he was flying. After a few hours, you neared the island.

"So, is there anything you want to do to celebrate our victory, Ronald? I would be willing to cover whatever you want." Well, you could always go for some nacos, but as you looked down at the completed recipe in your hands you smiled.

"Well, I think I'd like to actually try these. I did go through all the trouble to get them, so I might as well figure out how they were like when they were fresh." Hopefully when Junior and Shego got back they'd enjoy the stuff enough that they wouldn't kill you.

XxX

As the helicopter dropped down, Shego couldn't help but growl a bit at herself. Beside her, Junior was sitting down while nursed some massive bruises. She knew it wasn't her fault, but even then the truth of the matter was staring her in the face.

They fucked up, big time. It must have been something she hadn't planned for, since immediately after they began climbing the walls the alarms went off. They tried getting to the recipe, but the entire security force was out to go fight them. Shego had given as good as she'd got, and with Junior she'd been able to fight most of them off- even with the dogs that hadn't fallen for the steak trick! It was horrible and there was nothing she could fucking do to have stopped it. She just hoped that Junior was okay despite all of the things that happened. He'd been silent during the whole ride and if he wasn't doing so hot then Señor Senior Senior might have pulled her pay! It wasn't like what she was doing was legal after all so she couldn't have sued and roughing up her employer wouldn't have ended well.

With a heavy sigh, she walked out of the vehicle towards the mansion. If he wasn't charitable toward her, she'd understand but at least attempting to gain a reduced payment would be preferable to none.

As she opened the door, she was hit by a very familiar fragrance. Looking toward the action, she saw Junior talking animatedly with his father and the Sidekick in a set of four comfy looking chairs near the fireplace. Between them was a platter of sinfully delicious looking cookies, along with a single mug of some liquid. Her student looked at her, and motioned for her to sit in the final unoccupied chair. Not wanting to piss off the source of her paycheck, she complied.

As Shego sat down, she noted that the chair was incredibly soft, and it probably cost more than what he was paying her twice over. Taking care, she grabbed and sniffed at the mug in front of her. It wasn't that she didn't quite trust these people not to poison her, but she'd been clubbing enough to know that she should always test a drink she hadn't personally made. Idiots with grabby hands never understood that Superhumans _might_ just be resistant to getting roofied. This was hot chocolate, though, and it smelled just as good as the cookies looked. Tentatively, she tasted the warm brew while the trio looked at her. She knew she'd seen better days, but the drink made everything marginally more bearable. Hell, it surpassed her expectations so much that she knew she'd have to ask Señor Senior where he got his cocoa. Looking back at the cookies, she could feel her will crumbling. It almost looked like one of the chocolate chips was slowly melting and flowing towards her. She snatched one of the delicious pieces of sugar up and quickly took a bite out if it.

It was probably the best thing Shego had ever eaten, and that was saying something. She had to suppress a pleased moan from the thing, actually. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the Sidekick smirking at her, like he'd discovered something he could use against her. Let the bastard laugh at her, she's just take another cookie and allow herself to enjoy the taste. It wasn't like the sugar went anywhere that she couldn't use.

"So, how did your mission go, my son?" Breaking the silence Señor Senior finally asked the question she knew both of them were dreading. Junior fiddled around in his seat a bit, trying to search for an answer that would mollify his father before speaking. "We… were not able to succeed, father." Yeah, and now you had to defend your paycheck.

"It's not like he screwed up or anything. His growth this past week have been insane and it was due to unforeseen circumstances that the plan didn't work," she should have made sure she had a plan if things didn't go well but she thought any problems would come from him, not the guards, "I didn't expect alarms to hit as early as they did." Señor Senior Senior nodded at that, before sipping more of the hot chocolate and looking between the two. Shego waited for his judgement, and she could see Junior tensing up. The Elder Senior continued to survey the two criminals, and Shego could almost swear she saw some small sign of a smile on his face. That meant her paycheck was safe! Junior, however, did not see what she ha and quickly attempted to deflect.

"Father, these cookies are amazing! Which servant cooked these? We should be paying them more." Well, he wasn't wrong. If someone could cook stuff like this they deserved a bonus. And might possibly be worth hiring herself. Señor Senior Senior let out a quiet chuckle while the Sidekick coughed into his hand.

"Well, I mean. If you want to pay me I won't complain." Huh, so the buffoon could cook? Well, if she didn't know he wouldn't reject it she'd still consider making the offer. Anyone who could cook sweets like those cookies would probably be able to make a killing. Junior simply looked on in amazement.

"What recipe did you use? I think Father would be most pleased if you could train the servants to make these." The blonde idiot looked to the side, before shaking his head.

"Nah. I think it's something I'll keep to myself. I'll be the second person to know it, and I did just get it from them so I don't think you'll be able to get a copy for a while," He shrugged, "And besides, you can get more cookies without much trouble." Junior leaned forward, eyes intent and focused.

"Then where would I go to purchase them? Something this good cannot be found easi-" The Sidekick shoved out a small paper package, and Shego could swear she'd seen it before. The logo seemed so familiar, it was almost li-

...No. That couldn't be. He was the Sidekick, and he was a good guy! That just didn't happen, it was like hearing the Princess went shoplifting! Junior reacted almost identically, gasping before pointing an accusatory figure at the Sidekick, who Shego now realized wasn't clad in his normal clothes or mission gear at all. Finally, the silence was broken by Junior's almost disbelieving statement.

"YOU stole the recipe?! HOW?!" The kid flashed a look over to Señor Senior Senior before looking back at the two roughed-up thieves.

"I, uhhh, had a good distraction?" What could he possibly be talking about? Shego knew that the place was heavily defended, and their op today only proved it! He couldn't have done better than they had, it just didn't make any sense! She looked over to her one-time partner in crime, who seemed almost dumbstruck. Funnily enough, a few seconds later it seemed as if Junior finally got it, and he narrowed his eyes at the Sidekick.

"Well played, Stoppable. Well played." He sat back down, taking one of the cookies and putting it towards his mouth before staring at his father. "I assume you had a hand in this, then?"

The older man nodded. "I did, though it was mainly young Stoppable who did the heavy lifting. I simply made sure he was properly supplied and prepared the transport to and from Texas." Shego's fists clenched as she tried to figure it out? Had he used the dogs? If they weren't fed before, he could have gotten there and stolen it right before they'd even noticed! No, that would have had the guards going into the complex. He could have gotten there faster than you had… but then he wouldn't have had enough time to get back and bake the cookies. But that would mean…

"I am sorry that you guys got roughed up by security. Vivian did a much better job than I'd thought she would."

…

"No," Shego wouldn't accept this, "You are the Sidekick. One of the good guys. You. Are not. Capable. Of something like that." No, he couldn't be! Junior turned to her, remorse written on his face.

"We must admit the truth, Shego. He played us. He was the better villain." The kid must have gotten a concussion or something during the fight. There was no way dumb, lanky and subordinate was better than her! It just wasn't true. Junior only looked back to the kid he was giving _waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy_ too much credit to with a smile on his face. "But it shall not last! You were the better villain today, and you may even be the better villain tomorrow, but I SHALL ONE DAY DEFEAT YOU AND TAKE MY RIGHTFUL PLACE AT THE TOP!"

The kid reacted well to that obvious inflation of his ego, and he even looked toward Shego with a sadistic smirk on his face, as if he expected her to say something. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Señor Senior Senior looked over to her.

"I will regret to say that, as you can plainly see, your services are no longer necessary. You will receive your full payment, and a bonus for a job well done." Good, that was what you cared about, and that was tha- "Of course, you were not the only one responsible for my son's meteoric growth this week. Which Is why I shall be paying an equal sum to Mister Stoppable."

Her fists clenched, with sparks of green fire flashing slightly. _HE_ didn't spend one entire god damned week training Junior into good shape, _he_ didn't plan out an entire god-damned heist only to have it fall to fucking ash and he sure as _hell_ didn't just play her like a fiddle. With a tense smile, she walked out of the building and got on the hovercraft that she'd planned to use to get away from Drakken. Once she was certain she was out of earshot, she screamed in frustration.

How could she have let herself get conned like that?! It all seemed to have made so much sense last week, when she was still able to think twenty steps ahead of everyone but now she found herself getting outclassed by the fucking Sidekick. He wasn't even supposed to have been dangerous, he was the weak li-

 _Lesson two. Never, EVER think someone is harmless._

...She'd broken her own rule. He was the sidekick, the weakest link in team Possible, and she thought that meant he would break easily. No. She could admit it, she'd been… inconvenienced by what Stoppable had done. He had exceeded all of her expectations, hell, he'd surprised her.

And now she felt a sadistic impulse to give him a surprise of his own… After all, she wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

 **Achievement unlocked- Smooth Criminal: Pull off you first heist for a client! Reward: Manipulation stat unlocked**

XxX

It was Sunday again. Time for the group to meet up and share their progress. You weren't sure how they'd take your actions this week. On the one hand, you'd built up a good contact, and managed to acquire some serious equipment for future hunts. On the other hand, you'd helped a supervillain become a better supervillain and stolen what was literally the most valuable and highly guarded thing in the world from its rightful owner. That... kinda wasn't a very good guy thing to do. On the other other hand, you now had the greatest cookie recipe ever. As you waited in the new club room with Mr. Barkin (which was incidentally the same one for your new elective), you figured out how exactly you were going to break the news to them.

A few minutes later Brick walked in with Bonnie. The two sat down in the back, though their eyes were intent on the board in front of them. Not much later, Vivian entered before taking a seat next to you. Finally, Tara entered the room with Mankey. She was holding his hand and they sat together near the left wall

You wondered when that suddenly became a thing? Ah well, at the very least it meant Kim would stop drooling over the guy, she couldn't when you knew she'd feel majorly guilty about crushing on a friend's BF. That was like, a total rule break there. Not to mention it would be super scummy.

With the final member of the group there, you could begin discussing what they had found. Mr. Barkin took the opportunity to stand up first, before giving the information he had gathered on Werewolves alongside a nice little packet you could keep for reference. Vivian skipped the speech and went straight to giving out the paper she had compiled. After that, Bonnie stood up with Brick to give her report. Apparently there's been a string of thefts throughout Lowerton that might need to be investigated. It sounded kinda normal, but then again you weren't really sure it was when all of the people had been reporting no signs of a breaking before the item just… disappeared. On another note, apparently there was a gang of people in the Lowerton area that harassed Bonnie when she was investigating some of the incidents on her own. They probably wouldn't be an issue, but they were being jerks. Maybe you could do something about them.

Josh reported hearing about some strange activity in Upperton U when he was checking out one of the parties up there. Apparently one of the frats has started acting really weird lately. It could be anything, but then again it was a group of goths so he wasn't exactly so sure things were as they seemed. It was worth looking into, at least.

Tara finally came up to the front, and said that she'd been hearing rumors about a haunted house near Middleton mall. Of course, it could just be a bunch of idiots doing stuff, but she'd heard enough people saying similar things about it that it would be worth investigating.

Finally, you stood up. You told them there wasn't much to report on the investigating front. You hadn't found anything new in Middleton when you looked. You did however state that you'd managed to get a hold of some gear from a friend that you could use. There were a few questions, but nothing that you couldn't deflect away. Everyone seemed happy that you'd managed to get them some new stuff, and you passed out the pistols you'd been paid to each one of them, along with the proper documentation for them to keep it. Mr Barkin raised an eyebrow really high at that, but otherwise chose not to respond. But hey, it made sense. If they were going to be attacked by monsters out of nowhere later they should be able to defend themselves. When that was finished, you began to come up with next week's plan.

 **Major Category - Team Action (choose one)**

[X] Let's go on a fieldtrip! Mister B said that one of the best way to understand the mind of a predator is to witness one in action. He talked about possibly setting up a special extracurricular field trip to go study the hunting patterns of local wildlife, and possibly talk about more... human hunters too. It would be a badical way to get some extra credit, and would let you see if anyone else would be interested in eventually doing some hunting on their own.

 **Major Category - Assignments (assign Ron, Bonnie, Brick, Barkin, Tara, Josh and Vivian)**

 **Information gathering** [X] Gangs of Lowerton: Bonnie said she'd been getting some trouble from a local gang in her search of Lowerton. It might not be a problem now, but it would probably help everyone if they stopped being a problem sooner rather than later. You just needed to figure out who and where they were. Check: Social, Difficulty: Easy, Complexity: Simple  
-[X] Josh  
[X] The Haunting: Well, Tara said there was a creepy house out there, so you might as well try to go figure out what exactly was going on in that place. If you were lucky, maybe it would be nothing more than some vandals or a squatter… Check: Physical, Difficulty: Medium, Complexity: Direct  
-[X] Brick, Ron  
[X] Frat Troubles: Okay, something has gone down with one of Upperton U's frat houses. You're not exactly sure what it is that's happened but you should probably look into it nonetheless. Send someone to check the place out and report back. Check: Social, Difficulty: Medium, Complexity: Direct  
-[X]Tara  
[X] Oh nos! Part 2 Right, so. Viv was right. The Nosferatu scrounged through the ashes of the house you burned down. It may or may not still be sniffing around. Vivian says he didn't find anything, but this is an unholy creature of the night and all, who knows what they can get up to? See if you can _subtly_ figure out if you're in the clear. Check: Mental, Difficulty: Medium, Complexity: Simple  
-[X] Vivian  
[X] Crime spree spotter: Someone or some _thing_ has been stealing valuables from homes all over Lowerton and has gone completely unnoticed. This might be something you'd need to check up on, especially since it sounds supernatural.  
-[X] Talk to the people who got robbed. Maybe they'd know something, or you'd find a pattern in the details anything you could gather would help. Check: Social Difficulty: Medium Complexity: Simple  
-[X] Bonnie  
[X] Track and Trap: There's a werewolf out there that's been terrorizing people in the Middleton area. You need to find them and put an end to their killing spree.  
-[X] Check the Forest: You could totally find where this thing came from if you were able to see what trail it took during one of it's rampages. It would be a simpler way to figure things out, though it might be a bit harder. Check: Mental, Difficulty: Medium Complexity: Simple  
-[X] Barkin

 **Major Category - Free Time (choose two)**

[X] What's the Sitch? Spend some time with Kim and reaffirm that you are, in fact, a good guy. You need a break from all this supervillainy before it goes to your head!  
[X] …? Ok, something really off happened in your dreams. Something the you were sure was related to the MMP. Then again, what did you actually know about that for sure? Start practicing and maybe you'd figure things out.


	17. Interlude- Premonitions of Power

It was warm. That was the strangest thing, since you were pretty sure that you didn't normally feel anything other than normal in your dreams. That's not to say that the warm wasn't nice, it just wasn't what you had expected when you lay down to sleep tonight. Then again, none of this was. There was a disturbing lack of Rufus, Kim and Cheese for this to have been one of your dreams. It wasn't a nightmare either. There was no Shego, no Vampires and no Monkeys to ruin your mood.

So, this was a decidedly neutral dream. Really, it could have been worse. Featureless plains sucked, but it was leagues better than a dimly lit old house with flickering lights. Well, that wasn't to say it was good. The whole nothing for miles and miles was kind of boring… But then again, this was one of your dreams. If you walked far enough, maybe you'd find something? You even thought you could make out something in the distance! That meant this wasn't going to be one of the most boring dreams you'd ever had, right? With a small bit of caution, you started off towards the mark out in the distance.

After a while, you finally made it to thing you'd seen. It was an old, worn temple made of granite. Or something like that, you weren't a geographer or whatever the term was. The strangest thing was that you couldn't shake the thought that you'd been here before…

You climbed up the few step there into the heart of the building. It was pretty cool, in its own ancient way. The place was beaten up, with holes in the ceiling providing you light. In the distance, you could spot another door on the other side of the room. It seemed to be the only thing that was still intact out of the place, and as you walked towards it you couldn't help but admire the work someone had put into it. The solid material was dusted, but not decayed or overgrown like the rest of the place. As you approached, the familiar feeling became even more intense and the little voice in the back of your head that was trying to figure out what this was kept desperately trying to get an answer. Tentatively, you pushed one of the doors aside and looked into the adjoining room.

When you looked into there, it finally clicked. This had something to do with Mystical Monkey Stuff. It felt too similar to have been anything but that. And whatever was causing this was in the room. Carefully, you walked in and looked over the entire place.

It wasn't really that different from the rest of the temple apart from the small altar that took up the center and you were certain it was where the feeling of power was coming from. You approached it, feeling the power tingling throughout the air and inside yourself. When you ascended the stairs, you found the source of this energy.

Well, sources. Three of them.

In the Center was a blue katana (or at least you thought it was a katana) lying on top of a holder. As your hand reached toward it, you could feel the power flowing through you like a stream, always moving and twirling around anything in its way.

To your left was a pair of Red claws, looking like ones that had been taken from a great monster of some sort. Your hand moved toward it, and you felt more... solid. Like the very earth itself, you could not be broken or destroyed without great force.

To your right was a small golden pistol, with a magazine of similarly colored ammunition sitting right next to it. You moved your hand in it's direction, and the warmth around you magnified into a great fire, consuming all in it's path but you.

Even as you took this in, your hand reached toward one of them, and you knew deep within your mind that it was the correct choice:

 **CHOOSE ONE:**

[X] The Yellow Pistol Tai Shing Pek Kwar- Howling Monkey style

As you grabbed it, you felt a small amount of the power that had been suffusing the air disappear, and when you looked back, the other two weapons were gone. Before you could figure out what had happened, you felt a great falling sensation as you jerked back awake. Rufus looked at you in seeming curiosity before going back to the peace of his own little nap.

Well, that was weird…

 **NEW FREE TIME ACTION UNLOCKED:**

 **[] …?** Ok, something really off happened in your dreams. Something the you were sure was related to the MMP. Then again, what did you actually know about that for sure? Start practicing and maybe you'd figure things out.


	18. Week 8- Of Teachers and their Students

Well, you had priorities. There were creepy crawlies in this city that needed to be dealt with, though you needed to find them first. With that in mind:

"Mr. B, I want you checking the forest for the werewolf. If we can find it, we can deal with it," He nodded with a smile on his face, "Viv, I want that Vampire identified and located," She gave you a thumbs up, "Bonnie I want you investigating the thefts. See if there's any pattern we can use," She rolled her eyes at that but voiced no complaints, "Tara, I want you go check out the frat stuff," She gave an enthusiastic nod, "Josh, go check out the gang in Lowerton. They may not be supernatural but if they start trouble I want to know who to talk to," he gave you a lazy smile, "And finally Brick. You and I are going to go check out this haunted house to see if there's anything off about it. Everyone got it?" A chorus of agreement answered you. "Good. If you need help, let me know, and I'll see you all next meeting!" Another successful meeting over, and now it was time to walk home. Rufus shuffled around in your pocket, more excited that you finally brought him along than anything. You felt bad for neglecting the poor guy but fighting Vampires was scary stuff. You sure as heck weren't inviting him to train Junior, corrupting him like that just wouldn't end well. Still, his presence brought back the thoughts of last night's dream to your mind. You weren't the only one to have been hit by the monkey stuff. Rufus had been affected just as much as you had, though you could hardly imagine him having dreams that weren't happy or cheese-based. Still, the feeling when you picked up the gun was so strange. You figured the best way to get around that was to ask Wade about this stuff though. He could probably get a few answers if he asked. He _had_ to still have the info from the first time you fought Monkey Fist, right?. Other than that, you thought about going to the shooting range once more, to see if anything had changed now that you'd picked up that weird weapon.

As you little semi-neglected buddy huddled in your pockets, you thought about seeing what Kim was doing this week. Maybe she'd have time for you? As you walked home, you whistled a little bit to yourself. This week probably wouldn't be too bad.

XxX

Okay, Kim was acting really weird.

"Look, Ron. I know that I haven't been spending so much time around you recently, but I know you've been improving lots. It's really cool to see my best friend finally living up to his potential." Okay, yeah. Something was wrong. Kim was never this touchy feely without an ulterior motive. "I just think that it's really nice that you've been so dedicated after this whole club thing started." Well, yeah. Fighting monsters and evil didn't really call for less than one hun-

"Maybe I could join up for a meeting or two?" Well, there it was, wasn't it?

"Yeah OK Kim," you drawled as you stared at her with narrowed yes, "Why exactly do you want to join the club?" She looked to the side, almost guiltily.

"...No reason." Yeah, she was totally gunning for Josh, wasn't she? No one could give that blatant of a misdirection without having something they wanted. And you were pretty sure you knew what it was.

"You do know Josh is dating Tara now right?" She reeled back at the statement, almost throwing her guilt at the idea everywhere."

"No, Ron! I don't want to join to be around Josh, I wa-" The sound of clicking heels stopped the budding argument in it's track. Mr. Helmann didn't use shoes like, and Mr. B certainly wouldn't be caught dead wearing those things. Was there a new sub that got hired by the district? It almost seemed like Mr. Barkin had a monopoly on the spots here. Then again, maybe a new face wouldn't be so bad? You decided to give your best tentative smile along with the rest of the class.

As the door opened, your hoped slowly started to dissolve as a well dressed but familiar face walked in. You hoped against all hope that you were just seeing things, but a quick look over to Kim's rapidly paling face informed you that such was not the case. As she set down her files and started to write on the blackboard behind her, you felt the small little ember of denial you had dying a slow death. As she turned back to the class and spoke, it finally flickered out.

"Hello, class. My name is Ms Doe and I will be replacing Mr. Helmann's spot here in Middleton high after he had an unfortunate accident while driving over the weekend. It is very nice to meet all of you, and I hope we all will have a fantastic term!" Shego practically chirped at the class, before turning to Kim and yourself and giving a small wink. You were frozen with shock. Kim... less so.

"SHEGO!" Kicking aside what desks were in her way, Kim was already in front of her archnemisis who was… not moving at all. If anything, she was frowning at the sudden display.

"Miss Possible. I've heard about you and your… antics from the principal. Be warned that I will not tolerate excuses, young lady. Not from you or your little sidekick. Now, if you would please return to your seat…" She motioned back towards the chair that had been jumped out of seconds earlier. "We can continue with class."

"But-" Kim tried her best to resist, but she knew starting stuff here would end badly. Heck, you knew starting a fight would get people hurt right now and that was something you understood she just couldn't do. Shego's frown turned to an amused smile.

"Now, I know that I may look like the world-renowned villainess, and lord knows that she probably leads a more exciting life than I do, but I am not who you assume I am. Any other disruptions will not be tolerated. So I would recommend you sit down unless you enjoy receiving detention." With a defeated slump, KP returned to her previous position. After that, the class proceeded as normal and you just tried to ignore the fact that your teacher was Shego. It wasn't really that hard, though Rufus was running fear-induced laps in your backpack the whole time. As you exited, the new teacher looked over to the two of you.

"Oh, and have a nice day, Kimmie." KP only responded with a small growl and mutterings all the way up to her locker. As she opened it, Wade's face greeted her.

"KIM, we've got a hit on the site!" the Possible team's tech support looked on from a TV screen where he was sipping a soda. "It's abo-"

"Wade, we've got bigger problems." You'd say that was true. "Shego has somehow become our history teacher!" Wade responded with an appropriate spout of soda along with a small amount of choking before looking back to KP.

"Seriously?! I'll make sure to look into that. It might be related to the hit I've gotten, too." You felt a sinking feeling in your stomach as you thought about what exactly he might mean. "You see, we've received a report on a theft in Texas. Someone stole the recipe to Granny Crocket's famous chocolate chip cookies," Well, crap.

"Let me guess, Shego had a hand in it?"

"That's the thing. Shego was at the heist along with Senior Junior for some reason, but here's the kicker." Oh, no. "She didn't get the recipe. Security footage shows that they got into a huge fight with the guards on staff before having to retreat. While that was happening, apparently someone else snuck in the back and took the goods without setting off a single alarm." Kim's eyes widened as you quietly tried to edge slowly away from the discussion.

"So we're talking about someone who is stealthy enough to sneak into the place without getting caught, smart enough to beat all the electronic security, and ruthless enough to use _Shego_ of all people as a distraction." Well, you didn't think you were that good... bad... whatever!

"Yeah, and it gets worse. I checked the electronic records. Whoever it was had a friend who got into the system. The vault's sensors were turned off and they also skimmed a few thousand dollars from the accounts logged in there." Okay, you were going to have _words_ with Viv about professionalism on the job. "What's worse is that I can't even track them! They had an admin password and routed themselves over so many proxies that I can't get a lock on them even if I tried. Not to mention that half of the things whoever it was did were admin-approved, so I can't even nail them on that! I even had to tell Granny Crocket that I couldn't _do_ anything about that, just that they should be glad the person only took a few thousand! I can't fix the fact that Granny Crocket failed at the most basic tenet of computer security!" Kim was slowly massaging her temples.

"So, who ever it was had a friend who was skilled enough to beat you in the hacking sce-"

"I WAS NOT BEATEN! GRANNY CROCKET WAS!"

"...Yeah. Whoever it is has friends like that and also has the skills to pay the bills. I need something to pin them on, Wade. You think Shego might know?" Well, you knew she did but you weren't sure whether she'd say what happened. Well, that and whether or not Kim would believe her if she even said it.

"It's worth a sho- WOAH. Kim! Villain at twelve o'clock!" Turning around, you were prepared to see anything, from Shego in her suit to Dementor with suited thugs pointed straight at you.

Not Junior quietly whistling as he put some books into one of the old abandoned lockers. Neck snapping sharply back to the monitor, Kim quietly yelled at Wade from the confines of her locker.

"WHAT IS JUNIOR DOING HERE?! I THOUGHT HE WAS COLLEGE AGE!" While Kim was having a mutedly loud conversation, you quietly turned towards the man and waited for him to notice you. When he finally turned around, he gave you a welcoming smile.

"Ah, Stoppable. How goes it?" Yeah, he seemed way too okay with all of this for it to be a nefarious plot. Eh, might as well be nice. It didn't hurt.

"I'm doing fine Junior. How's everything with you?" He gave a beleaguered sigh.

"I am doing… okay, I guess. I would normally be spending my Monday tanning in the sun before helping Father perfect his evil laugh, but we spent most of the morning moving into the new mansion. I still do not understand why he insisted on moving to Mount Middleton, and putting me in school is a bit excessive. Otherwise, I am fine." Well, that was co- wait.

"There aren't any Mansions on Mount Middleton?" He looked at you, as if you totally understood his problem.

"I KNOW, RIGHT?! He had the entire place built throughout Saturday and Sunday. It's why I had to help Father _work_ and get the things moved in. I will say that it is a very nice place, though. I told Father to give the architect a bonus. Nice glass windows to compliment the view," He raised a finger as if an revelation, "speaking of the House, Father has asked me to tell you and Kim Possible that there will be a housewarming party we are hosting next Monday. Here," He pulled out two very expensive looking letters from an immaculately kept binder, "are your official invitations. Now, I have a class to get to. Do you happen to know where interpretive dance might be?" you pointed to the studio classroom, and he left with a confused Kim looking at you.

"What," you said, "The Seniors aren't that bad! They even invited us to their housewarming party!" She immediately took the envelope addressed to her and shoved it into Wade's computer for analysis. You knew Senior Senior was a villain, but come on! Where was the trust? He was as by the books as they came!

"It's clean Kim. I… don't think Senor Senior Senior would do something like that anyway." Kim rolled her eyes at the screen in front of her.

"Oh come on, Wade. Shego _and_ Junior moving to Middleton, after working on a robbery together? Something's up." Well, yeah. Something was weird about them moving in, but that was normal weird. Not… whatever it was she was thinking.

"You know," Okay, time to dodge the bad truths here Ron. You can do it, It's not like you're lying to your best friend! " _Maaaaybe_ you're overthinking this?" Kim turned towards you with an incredulous look on her face.

"What, do you think that two of _my_ enemies would just pack up and set up shop at Middleton High of all places completely coincidentally?" Well, you didn't think that Shego and Senior Senior were on great terms after you'd kinda helped him stab her in the back so…

"Yeah?" She rolled her eyes at you before getting her books for the next class.

"Well, I hope your prediction is right, Ron, because if it's not, we're in for some _big_ trouble."

XxX

You had an appointment with Brick after school. You were going to be committing another major felony! Wasn't that nice? You sighed internally. Apparently you were a wanted international thief, so it only made sense you'd be breaking and entering in your free time. Brick was going to drive the two of you over to the Haunted House. It was strange how no one thought it was weird anymore that Brick would A) voluntarily hang out with you and B) voluntarily give you rides places. Was this what it meant to be a popular? You shuddered at the thought.

You and Brick headed over to the Haunted House without much fanfare. Brick was a pretty solid driver, not a trick racer or anything, but all the research you'd had the Club do into the Tri-City area meant he knew all the quickest ways around town. It was only when the two of you actually got where you were headed that things started to go sideways.

Apparently, despite being an international super criminal, you couldn't pick a simple lock. You tried, you really did, but you had zero luck. On the other hand, that's what teammates were for. Usually, at that point Rufus would step up and work his magic, but while the little guy was still chittering away and examining the lock, Brick stepped in. He set his shoulders to the door and heaved. Whatever small progress you'd made with the lock was enough for Brick to bust the door wide open, leaving it hanging loosely on its hinges.

The house was dark inside. Winter was coming on after all, and even in the early afternoon there was less light than there used to be. And so, the three of you slowly, and _extremely_ cautiously headed into the house.

The place had been abandoned for some time. You could see broken windows, and a whole lot of dust and general signs of disarray. Brick stuck right beside you, and Rufus huddled in your pocket squeaking in terror. Honestly, you weren't too far away from that yourself. Terror was _not_ your favorite thing after all, even if your friendship of Kim had exposed you to a heck of a lot of it. Seriously, that girl was one heck of an adrenaline junkie. You really didn't know how nice quiet folks like Mr and Mrs Dr P had raised someone who thought skydiving was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon!

There were spiderwebs everywhere in the house, but overall nothing that seemed much more dangerous than that. You thought that maybe this whole thing was a bust, Brick seemed solid and stolid as ever, and even Rufus had stopped shuddering in fear. Then you hit the dining room.

It was... oddly intact for a house that had clearly been a bit exposed to the elements. Less wear and tear on everything, what looked like an actual tablecloth on the table, and all the chairs looked like they'd actually be able to take Brick sitting in them! Something was clearly not right, but you couldn't tell what. Right up until the chair at the head of the table started floating.

You screamed, Brick yelled, and Rufus screeched. There was a great deal of frenzied running, loud noises, and frenetic bodily flailing, and by the end of it all three of you were back in Brick's car and you were screaming at the top of your lungs.

"GOGOGO!" you yelled, 'GET US THE HECK OUT OF HERE MAN!"

Brick didn't say anything, he just turned the key and floored the accelerator taking all of you away from the scary scary ghost chairs.

xXx

Tuesday came around, and you found yourself being dragged by Kim through lunch into Sheg- _Ms Doe's_ classroom. Apparently she wanted answers about what went down that night, and when Kim was on the warpath, nothing would stop her.

Well, you just hoped something would break that trend as she threw the door into Shego's new office open. Behind a desk with stacks of paperwork sat the villainess, who looked surprisingly at home with a mug of coffee in her hand and mounds of paper surrounding her. You had a bit of cognitive dissonance at the very idea of _Shego_ of all people being domestic, but darn if that wasn't what it looked like! She looked up at Kim's entrance, before motioning for the two of you to have a seat. You knew you were on thin ice with her for some reason, so you gratefully took the opportunity to keep from escalating. Rufus almost leapt out at her, but you grabbed him and gave him the patented 'PLEASE DEAR GOD NO' look and he settled with hissing at her.

Kim, on the other hand, did no such thing.

"Shego. Tell me what happened last Saturday." She quirked an eyebrow at Kim's advance but otherwise continued to focus on her work.

"Now, Miss Possible, I have not a single clue what you are talking abou-" Kim pounded her fists onto the desk.

"Don't play dumb, Shego. I know you were stealing the cookie recipe. The videos sho-" Shego's shot a smile at Kim.

"What ever could you mean? I know that there's been news about a place being robbed by some nasty villains but -"

"But not _you_. Somebody beat you to it didn't he?" Kim's smirk really shouldn't have been legal, "Loosing your touch Shego?"

Oh dear god why!? Shego's smile took on a fragile quality, as her head did a large twitch that just happened to have directed her stare straight at you.

"Why, I don't think so. If I were this Shego you're talking about I might say that little nuisance's unintended interruption wasn't expected, but I think that I still have some power over him." Yeah, she would go there. Darn villains with their lack of morals and decency. "But since I'm not I certainly don't know what you're talking about."

"So you know it's a guy?! WHO. IS. HE?" Shego let out a small chuckle as she continued to bore a hole into your soul with her eyes. Alright, time to hide behind Kim. You've done it before, you're not afraid to cower behind your best friend for safety from deranged supervillains.

"Well, if I was this person you're talking about then I might say I knew the person fairly well. In fact, I could recognize them if they were in this very room. It's a shame I don't, though." Not to mention that you had a- Wait, where was your pistol?! Oh, right you left it at home since you didn't think you needed to be that paranoid Well, you weren't making that mistake ever again! With a frustrated groan, Kim turned around and left in a huff.

Leaving only Shego and yourself here. And Rufus, who continued to hiss.

"Remember to watch yourself, Stoppable. I hear this villain has a long memory. And she may not like being beaten." Rufus reeled back, before looking at you in shock. No, you needed to respond to that, you couldn't just back down. You knew how to deal with bullies.

"Well, just remember one thing," You reached down and back a bit farther, faking a bit to get her attention, "I play for keeps." You threw out two fingers in the old position, and the sound of her chair hitting the floor was assurance enough. Now it was time to skedaddle. You did not want to deal with angry Shego and she couldn't kill you if you were in public. And being protected by Kim. Well, that and ignoring the weird tugging sensation you had when you pulled the bluff on her. It almost felt like something...  
xXx

The week continued on. You spent some time with Kim when she wasn't in full Mission mode, and it was... weird. Not _bad_ per se, but her attention was pretty clearly elsewhere, she was really bugged about something. She _said_ it was just about Shego and Junior, but you knew it probably had something to do with Josh too. She'd still been crushing on him the last you knew.

The next time she was in mission mode was on Wednesday, when she confronted Junior during a free period.

It felt… off. Like you were missing some piece of the puzzle and it kept bugging you that you didn't _get_ it. It also didn't help that you were about to face looselips mcsecretspiller for an interrogation. He was sitting in a school desk with Kim facing him, and you could see the restraint cracking on his face.

"So, Shego seems to know who the person who stole the secret recipe was. You were working with her, so you should know who it was!" Junior nodded at that, giving Kim an empty stare.

"Of course I know who he is. He has become a good friend of late." Oh god, pleasepleaseplease don't spill this Junior! Kim just seemed even more confused.

"Well, who is he?" Junior shrugged his shoulders, before shooting you a small wink.

"Oh, I don't really remember. It must be having to keep all of these class things in my head. If only Father had hired the tutor again. Then I might be able to tell you." Kim seethed at the obvious lie, but tried to keep her cool.

"But this guy stole something you were planning to get! He even set the guards on you, he beat you guys!" Junior shrugged.

"So he got the heads up on me once. I can respect that. I do not dwell on my failures, I simply plan for the next time we may meet." Okay, that wasn't what you'd expected, but it was good enough, if a bit shocking.

"Wow, you took that way better than Shego." Oh crap, you just said that. Kim gave you a smile, like you were voicing what she wanted to say but couldn't while Junior just raised one eyebrow at you in amusement.

"Well, I like to think of myself as above all of that. My pride is not so fragile that losing once should shatter it. Especially to so worthy a foe. Now, Father raised me to be honorable, and I shall be in my villainy too. I will not reveal my compatriot until he feels it is… dramatically appropriate." Oh thank god Junior actually learned a bit of maturity from his father. Once again, Kim's hands balled up into angry fists before she turned and stalked from the room. With a sigh, you shot Junior a look of thanks he returned with a smiling nod before following after her.

You did need to talk to Wade about the monkey business, after all.

XxX

Thursday came and went in school easily. You helped Mr B tack on the fliers about the upcoming field trip this Saturday, and you were sure you saw more people than you'd ever expected giving them a second glance. After that, you'd finally decided to take some time to figure out what exactly had been happening to you recently, especially since that papers you'd asked Wade for were already in you locker at the end of the day. Looking over them, you found a collection of myths and legend riddled with the small scrawl of Wade's notes in the margin. It didn't tell you anything you hadn't already gathered or knew. There was a martial art style called Tai Shing Pek Kwar, ancient people in China used it, blah blah blah. It was all really kind of boring, and though you did find some old legends about a man carving a monastery from a mountain with some gift he'd gotten from Heaven, you were sure that was totally exaggerated. People couldn't just do that, and you were sure it would even take a Vampire like, weeks, to pull that off. After an hour of pointless digging, you finally decided to go out and train like you normally had. Maybe you'd figure something out then? You thought about going to ask Kim about helping you, but your memory of the dream was unsettling enough that you eventually opted not to. Your only real idea was that... maybe you had to think 'monkey thoughts.' You cringed internally at the idea. Nah, maybe you should just focus on the gun part. Maybe you'd find something out if you, you know, used one?

Which is what drew you to the Middleton shooting range. One rented room later, and you were trying whatever you could to activate the stuff. Well, trying was the operative word there. You were almost certain you'd made a fool out of yourself, in your attempt to make trickshots or the failure at curving the bullet like they always did in the movies.

And that… really wasn't working. You found that all you were doing was looking stupid and possibly making the range's owner look at you like he wasn't sure whether you were dumb or psychopathic. That certainly didn't help your confidence. With a dejected sigh, you went back to the practice routine Mr. Barkin had shown you a few weeks ago. Assume the correct position: feet shoulder length apart, with knees flexed but not totally bent, leaning forward from the hips with your arms fully extended, and finally your hands assumed the proper position Mr. B had beaten into you during your time on the range. With all that settled, you began to fire at the target in front of you. You didn't get everything, but you knew you could do better Taking a moment to reload, you began to fire at the thing again, getting into the groove of what you were doing. As your count neared the need for a reload, you found yourself already reaching for another It was almost soothing, really. Which didn't seem right for a weapon that made so much noise, but you were on your tenth magazine and you had to see how much you cou-

"Ron?" Kim's voice broke you out of the zone, and you saw her looking down in surprise as she stared at the target you'd put about a hundred holes into.

"Hi Kim! I was just going here to train for the hunting club. Uuuh, you want to talk?" Okay, you just needed to remember to clean the gun with the kit Mr B got you. She was still staring at the target, though. "Hello? Earth to Kim?" She finally snapped out of it when she turned to you.

"Well, it looks like Granny Crocket's had her recipe returned. I've been told to stop looking into this, but I still think something's up. If you'd be willing, I'd love to have some backup." Ugh, right. Why couldn't she just drop it like everyone else did. Then again, it wouldn't be Kim if she just gave up immediately. That just wasn't her.

"Yeah, I'll help." Maybe you could find some way to shift the blame while you were at it? Make it a win-win for the good guys or something.

"Awesome. I'll tell you when I need your help with this." She looked at the floor a bit. "Uuuh, you know… Is everything alright, Ron?" What kind of question was that?! Of course you were doing fine! You weren't dead or sick or anything! " I mean, this club stuff is all kind of sudden and I was wondering if you were being pushed into doing something you didn't like? You know you can always talk to me if you have a problem, right?"

Yeah, except for the part where if you talk with her Shego will eviscerate you with plasma hands. Some of that must have shown on your face.

"Ron, Bonnie's not pushing you into anything you don't want to do is she? I know you said that things were 'ok' with her, but it's _Bonnie_."

Well, it wasn't _Bonnie_ who was causing most of your headaches these days. "Nah, she's cool KP. Well, cool may be stretching it, but at least she's been okay with what's been happening recently. We may not always get along, but she's not making me do anything I don't want to." Why did Kim think she'd do anything to you? Really, you'd said mean things to each other, but she wasn't actively malicious. Not like Shego...

"OK, Ron. If you say so," Kim looked at you with a piercing look she must have got from Mrs Dr P. Seriously, that woman always knew when you were hiding something! "You know, if I can help with anything, anything at all, you just say the word and I'll be there, right?"

Heh, if you needed to call her for help you'd probably be dead… Yeah, that wasn't as funny as it sounded before. "I know KP. And I promise, I'll keep that in mind." It's not like you could tell her about what was really going on. You understood how dangerous this stuff was, and she thought you were crazy when you told her. You weren't sure she could take this seriously.

And if she couldn't, she'd die. You'd take these small lies if it meant keeping her safe.

She'd have done the same for you, really.

XxX

"Okay, class. Make sure that everyone keeps to their buddy, and that the groups going on their own path return here at 4:00 PM sharp if you don't want to get left behind. This is your weekend, and I hope you all have fun, but remember to follow the rules like you were at school." Really, you'd never thought you'd go to a school thing of your own choice on a Saturday a month ago. Well, then again you weren't really ever sure you wanted to go to the Zoo much at all. You had enough primal Majesty from Rufus' luscious non-furry coat. The little guy was busy growling at the Penguins in front of you while Kim sat to the side, eagerly waiting. She did always like the zoo whenever you went on trips. If anything, she was pretty passive this time.

"So, where are we going, Ron?" Wow, this was the first time she asked you to make that choice anywhere, but you wouldn't dwell on your own luck. You had an actual objective here. With a finger pointed to the heavens, you shouted.

"TO THE WOLVES!" The small snicker from your side signified that the joke had indeed gone over well, even if it meant letting yourself get a bit of the late-november snow on your gloved hand.

"Hey, maybe we should go with you guys! You certainly sound like you'd be having some fun." Oooh no, you turned out to see Zita herself giving you a coy smile before the guy who was with her shoved her aside for an angry glare.

"I don't know, I think the date duo would like their privacy, right?" Woah, there was some things you needed to correct there.

"Okay, one: Kim and I are not dating, we're besties," No matter how much that stung, it was the truth, "two: why'd you just shove her aside, that was rude," you turned to Zita, "and three: Of course I'd love to have some more company, especially if you're part of that." You gave her a big wink. And then there was silence, as Kim and the guy stared at you in slackjawed horror. Zita simply giggled a little bit at your second pathetic attempt.

"Why thank you, my knight in smelly armor. I think I'll go with you. It does sound fun. Right, Malcolm." She looked over to her partner, who sighed.

"Whatever you want, Zita. Just know that I could show you a much better time here." Wow, he really had to add that little snipe, didn't he? Shoving your distaste down, you turned around. After all, you got one totally badical girl to join up with your group! It was a net win. After a few minutes more of walking, you found yourself looking at a small-snow covered enclosure that proudly displayed "Middleton Wolves, Proud Guardians of the Forest". It seemed a bit… much for your tastes, but at least they were proud to display it. You spent a good half of an hour there, examining the tracks before Kim finally decided to voice her own boredom.

"Look, Ron. I know wolves are interesting but why are we here for so long? There's a whole zoo out there to go explore! I even got a map to make sure we could avoid the monkey exhibit!" Well, that was cool but you really _did_ have something to do here.

"Well, I would but I'm looking for stuff on werewolves here!" Oh, wait. Did you say that stuff out loud?! Kim was simply shaking her head at you.

"Look Ron, I know you're… enthusiastic about the class but you have to know that this stuff isn't real, right? I mean, first Vampires and now this! You've got to understand that Fantasy and Reality are different, Ron. It's kind of worrying." And this was only affirming your decision not to tell her. At least Shego was willing to give it a chance, even if you didn't really believe what she was saying. Luckily, you weren't alone here, and Zita totally came to back you up.

"Oh, come on! Werewolves are totally cool and I think it's kinda awesome that he's so into this stuff. But hey, since neither of you seem to thrilled about it, why don't you go off together and have some fun? We'll be fine right here." Well, if it left you alone with Zita you would totally be fine with this.

"Yeah, if you and Malcolm don't want to be here, why don't you go do something you'd find fun while we stick around here. I wouldn't want to hold you guys back with my hobby." Yeah, that was the last thing you wanted to do. Kim went silent for a few seconds, but finally replied.

"Well, I guess I need to make my project on _something_ for CML, and werewolves are fine…" Yeah, you could tell she wasn't really into this. But, you had gotten what you were looking for, and as you walked out you passed Tara and Josh coming to to the enclosure themselves. She gave you a wink before continuing on.

After that, you found yourself making a very large circle around the place, checking out each and every exhibit you could during the time you'd been given. Well, except for the monkey one but that was because you knew that simple glass cages couldn't hold them in if they wanted to get you. Those creatures of pure evil wouldn't be given the easy target of you standing right in front of them. No siree. The best part, beyond avoiding the monkeys, was that Zita actually talked with you! Past all of the cheesy pick-up lines and other stuff, you actually managed to have a real conversation with her! Sure, it was about supernatural creatures and the class you both had, but some progress was better than no progress! By the time you'd gotten back to the bus, you could already tell that she was totally into the supernatural, even if she didn't know they were real. That meant she'd probably be a good person to recruit and spend more time with! You were sure that this was a pretty good day, though Kim looked like she'd wasn't as stoked as you were. Still, she shot you a smile as Mr. Barkin started up the bus and headed back to Middleton, so you were sure everything was alright over there.

XxX

When you got back from the trip, you found another neat white envelope waiting in the box. With a small bit of glee, you opened up the letter to see what your pen pal had said next.

Dear Ron,

It's really nice to hear you're excited to meet me, and I would love to help you arrange something when we're not in school. Maybe something over Winter Break would work? I know I won't really be doing anything other than sitting around and studying, so it would be nice to do something outside of the norm, you know?

I've actually started looking for my almost-godfather, and apparently Dad actually did legally make him my godfather without telling him. Dad just forgot. When I asked him about it, he went on this long happy rant about how "Vladdy" was his best friend in College which didn't actually explain anything. I did look him up in the phonebook, and I'm pretty sure I found his address and everything. I'm really curious about him, since I have a sorta-godfather I didn't even know about and I don't even know if he knows about me either. I don't know whether I should contact him or not, though. I mean, if he doesn't know I exist then that would be kinda weird, right?

Finally, I do understand how old traditions had merit, but you have to agree that after a certain point they were more based in science and fact rather than actual superstition. I mean, at the very least your laws had a basis in observation, cause and effect, experimentation and easily identifiable results. Ghosts don't have that! You can't observe them, quantify them or even explain them, Ron. It's just something you can't prove at all! That's why believing in those things are crazy.

Thanks,  
Jazz

Well, that was nice, even if the last part was _sooo_ totally wrong. You'd definitely need to write her back if only so you could correct her with the truth you'd seen with your own two eyes. You'd already seized a small piece of paper and an envelope, and began to write.

Dear Jazz,

We'll see. I'm not sure _what_ I'm going to be doing for Winter Break just yet. Things have been kinda unsettled lately, a lot more than usual. I've been focusing on my school work and doing better, and I've actually started to apply myself to my extracurriculars. If you'd told me that a couple months ago I wouldn't have believed it, but it does mean I get better grades. Unfortunately, it also means that I have a lot more stuff to worry about as far as scheduling goes.

On the godfather subject, that's... interesting? Aren't there legal ramifications? If your dad made this Vlad guy your godfather without telling him, then he probably still doesn't know. I know it's not something anyone likes to think about, but if that's ever important, it'd be better if he knew about it beforehand right? Plus, you _were_ talking about how you were hoping to find someone in your family you could relate to, maybe he's the person you were looking for? He couldn't be all bad if your parents picked him for your godfather, right?

Finally, um, well, there's no easy way to phrase this so I'll come right out and say it. I'm pretty sure that ghosts are real. I mean, I was on the fence before, you had some good points, but I'm more an agnostic than an atheist about these things if you get my meaning. Well, I wanted to see if there might be some truth to it, or not. A friend of mine and I went over to this place that was supposed to be a haunted house. Pretty sure that we saw either evidence of a ghost or someone was seriously messing with us.

We didn't find much at first, it just seemed like a run of the mill abandoned house. The whole place was in really poor shape, except the dining room. It was eerily well kept. Then the seat at the head of the table started floating. Without any way for it to do so. A flying chair chased us out of the house! There weren't any signs of the kind of technology that that would need, and I know from technology. I've seen a ton of different kinds with KP on missions, and at her dad's job at the Space Center. I'll admit I was pretty spooked, and I might have missed something, but I don't think so.

So, in conclusion, kinda think your parents might have a point? Sorry! SUPER DUPER ULTRA SORRY! But... yeah.

Sincerely,  
Ron

xXx

Sunday came around quicker than expected, and with it came the usual meeting. You were greeted by faces that you'd started to consider familiar, and you waited until the final member showed up to begin, you stood up first.

"Well, it looks like that house really is haunted. Brick and I broke in and were immediately greeted by a bunch of weird stuff, including a chair floating in the air by itself. If that doesn't scream ghost, I don't really know what would." You sat back down as the jock gave you a small smile. Next to him, Bonnie stood up.

"I went to talk to the people who'd been robbed recently, and I've gotten some notes on all of them. They've all said that there have been no signs of a break in at all, other than the missing jewelry and I have a few ideas on how someone could do that, though why he'd go for people with such terrible taste is beyond me." She sat back down while Tara went up.

"Okay. Well, I went to upperton to investigate the frat and they have totally summoned a demon. Like, they're openly proud that they managed to and even offered to let me join up if I was interested. They seemed… really dumb for frat people, and that probably isn't a good thing if they've summoned a demon." Well, that wasn't good. You'd probably need to deal with that sooner rather than later. Josh was next.

"I've looked into local gangs in the area, and talked with people about the guys who were harassing Bonnie. They're called the Lowerton Lions and they apparently have been a bit a nuisance for people for a while. We could probably just go talk to them, since apparently they're based in a warehouse down near the docking district. There's nothing out of the ordinary about them, though. So it may not be our job." Hrm, yeah. That was something you'd need to think over. Was it really your business to deal with them? Vivian quickly took the stage.

"I've been looking into the Nos, and it seems we're clear for now. He hasn't found anything but from what I can gather that doesn't mean he's going to stop looking. If we want to make sure he's not a problem, he lives in the tunnels under Middleton. I only caught him because he tried sneaking through one of the Robot Rumble routes when a session was going on. We could totally take care of him if you think he'll be a problem." Well, that was good news! Maybe you'd use that later. Finally Mr. Barkin took his position in the front of the room.

"I tried to track the werewolf this week from his destruction in the forest. However, the trail has quite literally gone cold. The recent snowfall has muddled what marks it could leave, and I was not prepared to deal with it. I could try later, when the weather is taken into account." Dang, but you couldn't get everything right. Looking over what you had, you started to think up a plan for next week.

 **A/N: And now we're back up to speed and at the current chapter! I'll update this as this comes, and hope you all enjoy the story being woven. Me and my Co-GM try to get out an update every week or so. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled!**


	19. Week 9 pt 1: Partying on a Mountain!

Ultimately, your choices were pretty simple, you knew what needed to be done, and you gave out the team's assignments. Tara was a social butterfly, and she'd proven she could handle investigations, so you sent her to ask around for evidence of people with lycanthropy. Man, that was a big word!

You'd ask Barkin to take your newest recruit to cover the other end of 'd canvas the forest and see what they could find. This also had the added benefit of giving Barkin a chance to get a good read on your newest recruit. You still weren't a hundred percent on the whole Mankey thing.

Bonnie would go follow up on the Thief reports. It wouldn't do to leave that mess half done after you got the whole team involved in a non-hunting related issue.

The last of the big things was asking Vivian to prepare a brief on demons. Seriously. Demons. At least she had enough contacts and a solid enough Hunter background that you probably wouldn't end up with something about not suffering witches to live. Stupid King James bible.

In more everyday matters, you and Brick would keep your ears to the ground. He'd cover the horror filled slums of Lowerton and you'd focus a bit closer to home. It was just good manners to keep an eye on your neighbors, right? And that was that, the group dispersed for another week of schoolwork and hunting.

Once you'd gotten home you decided to get working on your main personal focus this week, besides schoolwork and hanging with KP. That would be the Mystical Monkey Power, and figuring out if you actually had the stuff. You really weren't sure what to think about the whole thing. On the one hand, mystic dreams and portents in a world that you [i] _knew_ [/i] contained a whole host of supernatural nasties. On the other hand, it was Mystical [i] _Monkey_ [/i] Power and Monkey Fist had never struck you as the freshest banana in the bunch.

You still had the information Wade had gotten you, and you'd done a little bit of your own research, but nothing had really jumped out at you. You'd made zero progress last week too. All in all, it didn't feel like a recipe for success. Still, you were committed to fighting things that were supernaturally strong, fast, and tough. You needed whatever edge you could get. And so, Sunday night, after making sure your homework was ready, you sat down and started *ugh* Monkey Meditating.

What did monkey's think about anyway? Probably some sort of super evil conspiracy to devastate the world through exploitation of bananas or something. Well, you weren't going to think of anything like that! Not even if you had to! Instead, you decided to think about normal animal things. Even though they were spawned from the deepest and most horrific hell, monkeys were still animals right? So, what did most animals think about? If Rufus was any guide mostly sleeping and eating, so, probably survival and meeting basic needs? Lacking any better idea, you started to think about the basic necessities of life.

The simple things, like food, rest, a home, and companionship. You couldn't live without any of them. Without fuel, your food couldn't survive at the most basic level. Without rest, it couldn't recover from the stress that life put on it. Without a home, it couldn't rest [i] _to_ [/i] recover. Finally, without companionship, what was the point at all? You'd heard once that hell was other people, but frankly? From what you could tell? It was more like Hell was loneliness. Without friends there really didn't seem to be a point. You'd seen what the populars had to deal with, and the only ones that hadn't struck you as dead inside were the ones like Tara, who had people they really cared about. Even Bonnie, sick and wrong as it was to think of her as anything resembling a functional human being, seemed to care a lot about Tara.

Still, you felt like you might be onto something. You sat cross legged on your bed strangely untouched by the passage of time. Could have been minutes or hours. Things got weirdly timeless for a while, as you just reduced your thoughts to the most simple you could. Your breathing had slowed and become very regular, and it probably would have looked like you'd fallen asleep sitting up if anyone had come in to check on you, which no one did. Rufus was playing some video game on the family computer downstairs, and your parents were in bed already.

Eventually, as your mind closed in on the barrier between consciousness and sleep you felt something click in your brain. Whatever it was, it jolted you straight out of your meditative state and you flailed around for a minute until you fell clear off your bed and onto the floor in a tangle of limbs. You laid there in a heap, groaning for a while, before standing up and trying to work out some of the stiffness.

When you opened your eyes you found yourself seeing bright yellow stars. Apparently, sudden shocks after sitting with your eyes closed for a long time were bad for your vision. You tried to blink them away, but all they did was fade from bright to dim. At least they weren't blocking out your sight anymore though.

You kept blinking, and eventually they went away. Mostly. There was still a little hint of yellow at the edges of your eyes, and you had no idea what that was about, but maybe it was a good thing? By this point, Rufus had run into the room chittering away in worry. The little dude must have heard you fall flat on your face from all the way downstairs.

You reached down to reassure him. He hopped on your hand immediately, and ran up your arm to rub up against your face and examine you. Up close, Rufus looked different. He was ...[i]glowing blue?![/i] Maybe you'd been meditating too long? There had to be some kind of rational explanation for this!?

You stopped at that thought. Right. Rational. Like anything was rational after you realized the world was filled with a thousand and one different supernatural horrors out to kill and/or eat you. This probably had something to do with the Mystical Monkey Power, but you had no idea what. You shook your head, closed your eyes, and gave this entire mess up for a bad job. You'd deal with whatever this was after a good night's sleep. Who knew? Maybe everything would be back to normal in the morning!

xXx

It wasn't.

xXx

Rufus was still glowing in the morning, though after you acknowledged that it was something normal it went away. Well, that wasn't quite the right way to put it, but you had no idea what the right words would be to describe this. It was still there, but not... relevant? Like the yellow that [b] still wasn't going away[/b]. Whatever this was it wasn't intruding on you at all after you acknowledged it. In the end, you just shrugged and got ready for school.

Thankfully, almost no one and nothing else struck you as odd. There were only three people who looked or felt different now that you had some kind of Mystical Monkey-vision. One was pretty understandable. You knew Shego had superpowers, so it made sense that [i]your [/i] new weirdness would notice her. She was hot. Like, not physically attractive hot, but when you were around her you felt like she was actually radiating heat. That wasn't quite right, you didn't feel heat on your skin or anything, but somehow you got the sense of vast amounts of energy just trailing after her whenever the two of you were in the same room.

The other two people were a bit... less expected. Mister B had lines of metal shot through his arms. Not actual literal metal, you could tell that much, but for some reason your new sense screamed that he had some kind of special metal arms. No auras or concepts or anything like that, the man just had [i]metal arms[/i]. Weird.

The last bit of strangeness was in the last place you thought you'd find any kind of supernatural weirdness. It was really subtle too, and you might have only seen it because you spent so much time with the person in question. That's right, KP had something strange going on. It was extremely hard to notice, but whenever the two of you were together something changed. You weren't sure how to describe it, a running theme with this whatever it was, but it was almost like there was a different filter on the world. Like how in movies, they'd use different types of lighting for different scenes.

When you and Kim were together, the world looked ever so slightly different. Colors had an edge to them, light was shaded just barely off towards a light red, and you felt the very tiniest itsy bitsy tugging sensation. It was also very different from Shego and Mister B. With them, it was immediately, blatantly, screamingly obvious that you were seeing something new. You only noticed the change in things around Kim because you spent almost all of her time with her and had for [i]years[/i].

Even then, you would have missed it if you hadn't had a movie day in history class. When the teacher turned off the lights and turned on the film, you could tell that the black and white wasn't quite black and white. You weren't sure what was going on, and decided to ignore it and watch the documentary. At the end of class, when the lights came back up, the contrast just jumped out at you. It was even weirder than Mister B's Arms of Mystic Metal!

Still, it didn't impact your day too much. You kept your trap shut, participated in classes [i]again[/i], and made it through without any trouble. You'd thought you might be getting a handle on things! Then it was time to get ready for the Senior's House Warming party.

xXx

"Kim, are you really sure there's something going on?" Seriously, she was going really far on a hunch. Sure, you didn't mind going to the party at all but you knew Kim was going to get herself into trouble if she followed through with this. If that meant going all fancy-like and choking yourself with a bowtie to finally lay this whole thing to rest, then you'd gladly pay the price to make sure none of this lead back to you.

"Oh come on, Ron. Two of my greatest enemies just moved into Middleton and one of them is throwing a huge party for their arrival. They've got to be up to something." Yeah, sure. That line of reasoning would make complete sense if it wasn't TOTALLY WRONG! There wasn't any way to make her think that though. Once Kim was on the warpath there wasn't anything that could stop her. Maybe you could minimize the damage by helping her out. With another pull, you'd finally gotten the stupid bowtie tightened enough to work. You turned around and saw the other benefit of this choice.

Kim looked really good in a dress. The baby blue matched well with the silver shoes she was wearing. No heels, of course. She expected she'd be getting into trouble tonight, and the cargo pants covering her legs under her voluminous skirt only helped reinforce that fact.

"Are you sure you're not just seeing things that aren't there, Kim? You do tend to… you know." She cocked her head in your direction, her eyebrows already rising onto her forehead in an amused expression.

"I tend to what, Ron?" Oooh boy. You and your big mouth.

"You, aah. You might just slightly, marginally, possibly, only a little," Okay, you didn't think her eyebrow could get any higher than it was right then, but you could swear it was almost hitting her hairline at this point. "Have a small tendency to tunnel-vision on things."

Ooh, now she was pouting at you.

"I do not! I just know what I want and go for it. That's all." Uh huh, sure. That was one way of putting it.

"Fine, just make sure you don't get in over your head Kim. I can't be everywhere at once and I at least want to have _some_ fun there." After all, it was a party thrown by the Seniors, and they were some of the most fun people around! You weren't going to just miss out on something like that, not when you were half sure they'd moved here for you. At the very least it would be courteous to show up when they went out of their way to invite you. As you walked out of your house, you saw the mailman dropping off a single letter with the same handwriting you'd come to anticipate every week. Opening the box, you extracted the small envelope and opened it up. She was early this week, which was nice.

[quote]

Hey Ron,

Look, I'm writing you this quickly because I'm concerned about your mental health. Have you been getting enough sleep recently? Is your food running low or has someone else been cooking for you? I'm saying this because I'm convinced you might be seeing things that aren't there. Ghosts aren't real, Ron. Saying you saw one won't suddenly make that any less true. It just makes me worry. Now, I know this sounds like we're moving too fast but I'd like to meet up with you sooner rather than later. You seem to be utterly convinced of something that's not right to the point where it's affecting your judgement.

I just don't want you to turn into my parents, okay? They've centered their entire lives around ghosts, and it's made my life kinda terrible. I think you're a great guy, Ron but I don't want you to do that to the people around you. I know this sounds harsh, but it's coming from my concern for you. So please consider my offer. I think I can help you with all of this.

With the utmost apologies,

Jazz

[/quote]

Well, that was depressing. You'd have to write her back after the party or tomorrow, but you were sure you could figure things out with her. She just had to realize that you were right and she was wrong. It wouldn't be that difficult, right?

Never mind that, though. You had a party to attend!

XxX

You know, when he said he bought a mansion on Mount Middleton, you'd thought he meant that he bought one. Not that he'd bought the ENTIRE MOUNTAIN. Sure, you probably should have expected this, given what you knew of the guy but he never failed to impress. You were just surprised he actually managed to get a place this big and fancy setup in a weekend. It was amazing! As you walked up to the gate Kim followed, stalking towards the entrance with an almost paranoid look on her face. Once she noticed you were watching, she put on a weak smile, but you could see that it couldn't reach her eyes. AS you finally made it to the door, you were greeted by a smiling Señor Senior. The two of you stopped in front of him, and shook his hand.

"Ah, Kim Possible and Ronald. My teenage Nemeses. How wonderful to see you this evening! I do hope you enjoy the party. I have so many things planned today that I think you will find most enjoyable. If you would, please come in." With that in mind, Kim blasted past the two of you, already in full investigation mode from the start. Señor Senior gave a chuckle at her own brazen entrance, before turning to you.

"Now, I know she thinks this is some sort of mission, but I do hope you take some time to enjoy yourself, Ronald. This is a party, after all. I know Junior would love to talk with you, and I myself would like to spend some time with you if you are willing. I believe I have also spotted Shego here, too. Beside that, there are many people here, including a few close friends of mine. I am sure you recall Jack Hench, of Hench Co, but there are others here who I think would be more than willing to meet with you if you want to talk with them. I have even heard Vlad Masters talking about you to Valmont." Wait, was that _the_ Vlad Masters?! Jazz's godfather? How'd he know Señor Senior Senior? "After all, these events give you more than enough time to network. Now, if you would like to move inside, I would recommend trying out the punch. Junior has told me he made it himself, and I will admit that it is quite good.

Well, you had the entire night to do things. Who were you going to meet?

Options (Pick 3)

[] Hang with Señor Senior Senior. Hey, he was probably the coolest guy you knew besides maybe Mr. Barkin. He did throw the party too, though you were sure he wouldn't be too disappointed that you went out and met with other people.

[] Hang with Señor Senior Junior. His father did say he wanted to speak with you, and he was a pretty badical guy when he wasn't taking himself too seriously. One of the staff here said that he was at the pool, and you could hear some splashes already.

[] Hang with Kim. It [i]is[/i] what you were aiming for when you came to the party. You can help her out. Admittedly, she is in full Bull in a China Shop Mission mode, but you can handle that...probably!

[] Talk to Shego. A chance to socialize with your least favorite and most difficult teammate! Yes, she ranks below Bonnie, because Bonnie can't shoot hot plasma at you or give you a failing grade if you tick her off!

[] Network

-[] Hey, is that Jazz's godfather in a black suit with a nice goatee on him? He looks important, and she'd probably be stoked to know you met him![color=transparent]The feeling of death radiating off him notwithstanding.[/color]

-[] Jack Hench was busy talking to people at the punch bowl. You thought Senior probably knew the guy, but you weren't sure he was close enough to invite him over until you were told he was there.

-[] This Valmont guy seems pretty classy, and unlike the other three you know nothing about him! [color=transparent]Besides the vague sense that he feels like a poorly pressed suit. And was that blood you smelled on him?[/color]

 **A/N: The vote is going on over in the quest's main thread for those of you who want to participate. It's right here: threads/down-the-bad-road-h-tv-kp-quest.406372/page-23**


	20. Week 9 pt 2: A Lesson and A Promotion

As you looked over the party, you considered what to do. A very large part of you considered going to find Kim, and hopefully stopping her from doing something really dumb, but before you could do that your eye caught on the suited man sitting in one of the room's largest chairs and sipping a small glass of punch. Señor Senior Senior did say his name was Vlad Masters, and you really weren't sure how many people could have shared a name like that. So, it probably wouldn't hurt to ask...

Something was weird with him though. That same thing that had given you weird sensations all day was acting up again. He felt... cold. Not temperature cold, or emotionally cold or anything like that, but cold all the same. It felt sorta like that feeling you got when you knew something was off but your instincts just wouldn't scream at you to run away. This man was dangerous, even though the smile he gave you as you approached projected anything but.

"Good evening, Mister Masters. It's a pleasure to meet you." You offered a hand that he took in a firm but not overly tight grip.

"Likewise, I'm sure, Mister Stoppable. Señor Senior Senior speaks most highly of you. Surprising, given his recent choice in hobbies." Wow, no one you introduced yourself to knew your name on the first meeting! This was totally a good sign that things were on the up and up!

"Well, you know, sometimes heroes and villains have that mutual respect thing going on, and we'll have nothing but positives about the others." He nodded, while giving you a tight smile.

"Indeed. However, I do have to ask what it is you would like to speak about. You were staring at me as though you had something on your mind. I am sure you could be meeting with a few other people who would be much more involved than me." Ah, there was the big question. Well, there was no time like the present, right?

"Well," you said, "It's like this Mister Masters. I joined a Pen Pal Program recently, and my particular Pen Pal lives in Amity Park. Her name's Jazz, er, Jasmine Fenton." If you hadn't been watching him you might have missed how his eyes narrowed when you said Jazz's last name it was so quick. There was also a hint of something odd in them, red maybe?

"Anyway, I'm bringing this up because I, we… think she's your goddaughter?" The man choked a little on his punch. He stared at you wide eyed for a moment, coughing while muttering under his breath.

"No, Maddie would have… wait, this is Jack we're talking about. She probably doesn't know, either."

"Judging from the fact you know her parents' names, and apparently her dad pretty well, I'm guessing you're the right Vlad Masters then?"

Mister Masters took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "I was once friends with Jack Fenton in College before an… [i]incident[/i] happened. I haven't been in contact with him or Maddie for years."

"Yeah, Jazz didn't know she even had a godfather, until she started asking questions about whether she had any family that wasn't as... enthusiastic as her dad. She found the paperwork in their attic." His eyes narrowed a bit at that, before widening in time for his hand to meet a furrowed forehead. You could swear you heard a growl from him, and his entire body seemed to pale for a second before he looked back up at you.

"That is distressingly in character for Jack. He always was something of an idiot," He blew out a rough breath before straightening up, "If you will excuse me, I believe I will have to investigate this. If I am the only thing standing between a teenage girl and the consequences of Jack Fenton's usual antics, I will need to take certain steps."

"Sorry if I ruined your day, Mr Masters." He looked down at the small glass he was drinking from for a few seconds, and you could almost swear a ghost of a smile creeped up onto his face.

"By no means. Who knows, this could be a good thing. Thank you Ronald, if I am allowed to call you that," You nodded. Mr. Stoppable was your dad, "You've just given me a… lot to think about. Though I think that will have to wait for later." Huh, what did h-

"Ah, Vlad. I was hoping to speak to you. You too, Ronald, if you have the time, of course. I would not want to disturb your festivities." Señor Senior Senior's voice broke into the conversation as you saw the older man standing right next to the two of you. You thought about maybe helping out with Kim but she wasn't anywhere in sight and you still didn't want to talk with Shego. You weren't going to open that can of worms when it could end up in a fight right now.

"Sure, why not?" Señor Senior gave you a smile, before ushering the two of you to one of the doors that had a big NO ENTRY BEYOND THIS POINT, IT WILL BE CONSIDERED TRESPASSING sign tacked on and a padlock binding the handles together. The man in the green suit and Jack Hench were standing beside it, each of them taking a moment to look you over rather neutrally. Your host pulled out a small key and unlocked the chains so you could open the door. It was already lit like the rest of the house, and you were sure if Kim was seeing this she'd be pretty miffed about how energy irresponsible he was being. She wasn't a big fan of the backsliding. After a few more seconds of walking you came up to an important looking door. One with hand scanners and everything. Señor Senior Senior put up his left hand to the machine, and a short click later the door opened. You host motioned for the five of you to enter the room with the grandiose flair of a villain showing off his newest doomsday device.

It was perhaps even more impressive than such. A masterfully crafted table sat in the center, with carvings of monstrous faces looking out at the people there. Normally you would have thought it kinda cool, but the visages of Vampires, Werewolves, and what you thought were mages or possibly witches judging by the warts and pointy hats, only served to unsettle you now, with what you knew. Surrounding them were five comfortable looking leather chairs, with one containing the Señor logo. You looked around, before choosing the one directly to his right. Mr Masters took the seat beside you, while the Man in the Green suit and Jack Hench took the remaining two. Once all of you were seated, the lights dimmed a bit before Señor Senior Senior leaned forward.

"Good evening Gentlemen. It is nice to see that each of you has chosen to attend this gathering. Now, for those of you in the room who do not know each other, allow me to facilitate introductions," He motioned towards you "This is Ronald Stoppable, Sidekick to my nemesis, Kim Possible. He is also a monster hunter and one-time supervillain," You gave him a shocked look at the brazen proclamation, and his hand lowered a bit, "[i]My apologies[/i], a one-time mercenary under my employ. He was the one who introduced me to our great opportunity, and I respect him greatly for that. Now," he gestured towards the man in Green, "This is Valmont. He was a rather successful figure in international crime before making some… unwise decisions regarding business partners. However, he has long been a family friend, and one who knows quite a lot about this line of work. Now that introductions are finished, I'll announce the second meeting of the LORE chairmen opened." Okay, hold up. Soooooooo much of this just went over your head, and there was only one response that would fit.

"Uuuuh, what are you talking about?" Hench rolled his eyes at your question before speaking up.

"What he's talking about, Stoppable, is the second meeting of a Company he formed last week on the information [i]you[/i] gave him. He sensed an untapped market in the Supernatural and managed to drag the rest of us into it." Señor Senior Senior just shook his head and sighed in disappointment.

"Jack, Jack, you say that like you were not jumping at the chance once you understood the full potential it represented!"

"Of course I did, and I stand by that. I'm just a bit… disappointed that you would give one of our biggest potential customers a seat on the Board here," The old supervillain raised a finger to silence Jack, but he was stopped as Jack continued to speak, "I know, I know. This wouldn't even be here if not for him. I understand that, but you can't help but feel a bit sad about a lost opportunity. Nothing personal, Stoppable." Well, that was one way to put it you guessed. Wait… did he really say what you just thought he said?

"So, hold up here, I'm part of a Board of Directors in a Shadowy Corporation that does... what exactly?" Honestly, this was starting to sound like a supervillain thing and you weren't sure how you could consciously support that. Vlad took the opportunity to cut in.

"Our mission statement is to Research the occult and Develop Weapons meant to fight them. We're hopefully going to sell to groups of Hunters like yourself, and if things go well we'll make a pretty penny off of this on top of helping normal humans arm themselves to fight against monsters. It's a win-win for everyone except the things that are already our enemies." Well, that did seem legitimate, and as far as you could tell he was a pretty good guy. Maybe there was merit to this whole thing after all. But, that left the most important question out there for you!

"So, what's the give and take for me here? I can't assume you'd just give all of this to me…" The four nodded, and you could swear one or two of them smiled slightly before Valmont spoke up.

"Ah yes, well Señor Senior Senior and I have been working on that in the past week when we weren't busy setting up the structure of the Company. We have agreed to create a trust fund in your name, to be opened when you turn 18 to help pay for your college education at the very least. After that, it is a matter of how much you personally want to be invested in the Company. The position we've assigned to you is Head of the Practical Research department, and unofficially you are our in-house troubleshooter. You'll be the first we go to when things go wrong or we need something done. Whether you choose to accept these missions is your choice, of course. In return, you'll be allowed to keep the gear you receive, and help us test out experimental weapons. It was agreed that this would be a fair compensation for time rendered." Well, it wasn't bad. You didn't really expect to get anything for free from them unless you actually participated in the company. They [i]were[/i] a business after all.

"Yeah, that seems fair. Now what?" Señor Senior Senior clapped his hands together.

"Now, we discuss the furnishings of the underground complex I have had installed. I think that a chrome finish on everything would work well." You settled into your seat as the proceedings began. It was probably going to be a while, after all. There [i] had [/i] to be a ton of things involved in running Shadow Corporations.

XxX

Kim had always hated crawling through air vents. Sure, she'd never admit it, but getting her hair tangled in loose bolts and screws was so not her favorite sitch. Still, it let her get into secret lairs and listen in on mysterious meetings so she'd take the minor annoyance for a little success.

Sadly, it didn't seem like there was any of that in her future right now. Apparently, the blueprints she'd dragged from Wade's reluctant hands specified this as the only opening in the Seniors' security. Too bad it was situated in a spot with terrible acoustics and an even worse view. She heard five voices, though none of them stood out to her. They were too garbled. She could only see the seated form of Señor Senior Senior. It was infuriating in the worst way, because she knew in the back of her mind that she should be able to do [i]better[/i]. For all she knew, the guy who stole the cookie recipe was right there talking with Señor Senior Senior and a council of evil about further plans for world domination! If Ron were here to back her up, she'd have busted in, confronted them all, and delivered the justice they deserved!

But that wasn't the sitch here, was it? Ron was too busy goofing off to focus on his responsibilities, and he just left you here to deal with all of this alone. You'd be having [i]words[/i] with him later about flaking in the middle of a mission. That just wasn't right. The teen hero sat there for a few minutes, uncomfortably shifting in the middle of the duct before she finally heard footsteps leading away from the room. She turned to leave in disappointment before a single voice called out.

"You can drop down now, Miss Possible." She froze in her tracks before turning back towards the grate, where a pair blue eyes stared back at her. There was a small buzzing sound as the metal plate slid aside. Reluctantly, Kim dropped down into the room before gazing into the disappointed face of a multibillionaire supervillain. Taking a moment to dust herself off, she attempted to match his gaze.

"You know, you can be quite predictable Miss Possible. I would find it quite amusing if I was not so very disappointed. I expected better of one who calls herself a hero." Kim found herself doing her best not to stare at the ground in shame. Sure, it was rude, but he was a bad guy! She needed to find out where the cookie recipe went! That meant snooping and trying to figure things out!

"You say that, but I was doing my job! You guys were totally involved in the disappearance of the cookie recipe, and I knew I co-" She only managed to look up long enough to see the palm of Señor Senior hitting his face.

"Do you mean the very recipe that I have been informed, by a very reliable source, is [i]no longer a problem[/i]? Surely your plucky tech support would have told you?" Well, that was another person you'd have to talk with later. "It seems that he has not. Well then, I shall be the one to inform you that it is no longer a problem." She edged away, hoping to escape her own shame before Wade's voice blared over the Kimmunicator.

"Kim, I just checked it out! They did get the recipe back but, and this is big, only after they made a large stock sellout to an anonymous big ticket investor! They're totally behind all of this!" Stopping in her tracks, Kim turned back to the grimacing figure of Señor Senior Senior.

"So you were behind the theft of the recipe after all!" Grudgingly, the man nodded before looking back at her. The teen hero's hands tightened into fists as she looked at the villain. Not even Drakken had been able to get the best of her this completely!

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't get Global Justice to crash this party so I can turn you in right now." With a heavy sigh, Señor Senior turned to the window.

"That would be assault, Miss Possible. You could attack me here, in my own home, without any evidence of wrongdoing besides the vaguest of suspicions. I imagine everyone would be on my side." Kim shrugged at him.

"Ron and I can find a way out of this, no problem." At that, the older man's frown deepened a bit at that, but otherwise he remained the same.

"I think you may be counting your chickens before they are hatched, Miss Possible." Kim quirked her head at him, seemingly confused before her eyes widened in shock.

"No! Ron's always there to help me out!" Yeah, he was the one constant, the one thing she could depend upon. She frowned as he let out a small chuckle. What, was her statement so crazy?

"Then answer this question," He motioned to the window with a tense smile on his face, 'Where is he right now? Surely, if he was so dependable, so unwilling to even think you might be wrong he would be at your side indulging your paranoid fantasies as you invade another man's privacy, his [i]home[/i] on nothing more than guesswork." She reeled back at his accusation, her mind searching for words before finally seizing the first ones that came to mind.

"But I was right!" Señor Senior Senior's smile turned into a scowl at that, and his hands balled into fists.

"And if you weren't? If you had invaded the privacy of my own home. and trespassed unwelcome for no better reason than your own suspicions? If you had found nothing, would you have complied as the police took you away for what could be considered a [i]felony[/i]? I had thought better of you, Miss Possible." And that was the problem. She did know better. She just thought that everything would be okay if she'd gotten it right.

You know, you have a small tendency to tunnel-vision on things.

Ron was right. She'd messed up big time. There wasn't any avoiding that. Señor Senior Senior was a villain, but he was also his own person and she couldn't just think of him as one or the other. Her own paranoia had even ruined what would have been a pretty awesome party, too. As she looked out the window, she saw Ron climbing up a pretty high diving board, only to flip and propel himself off the board with his hands and spun twice before hitting the water.

It was pretty cool. She almost missed it because she'd been so obsessed with the mission. She'd… been missing a lot of things about Ron lately. Heck, she didn't even know that he and Junior were friends if the smile Junior was wearing as he pulled her best friend out of the water was true. All around him the rest of the student body clapped and cheered. Even Bonnie, who she would have sworn was Ron's greatest enemy put up a ghost of a smile at his display.

How much had she missed because she forgot he was more than just her sidekick, her best friend? He was just a guy, too. One with really nice abs appare-

Wait, she going off topic here. With a quick shake of her head, she looked for her elderly enemy only to find him halfway through the nearest door. When he realized she was looking at him, he gave her a warm smile.

"Now, I do hope you will enjoy the rest of the party, Miss Possible."

Yeah, she hoped she did too.

XxX

The next day you found yourself feeling a lot more energetic than usual. Man, that party was fun! First meeting Jazz's godfather, then becoming one of five chairmen of a shady corporation dedicated to helping hunt monsters, and finally the diving contest you had with Junior that most of Middleton high's upper crust was watching. Apparently, doing the most complicated trip you knew was enough to win it. You received a lot of applause, especially from our friends in the Hunting Club. Well, your friends and Bonnie, who you were sure gave you a tense smile. Still, you had an idea of what to do for the rest of your week, and now you could totally tell Jazz you met her godfather!

As you opened up your locker, the sound of pounding feet running right towards you turning towards the noise, you expected to see Kim with some mission. Instead it was Jessica, Middleton high cheerleader and popular who looked up at you with an obvious blush in her face before shoving a piece of paper into your hands and running away.

"What was that?" Behind you Kim's voice cut in and you had to freeze to make sure she didn't see the big heart stickers on the envelope. You were sure she was out of your league, but then again normal letters didn't have heart stickers. However, you weren't about to tell Kim any of that. She'd probably assume they were just pulling a really mean prank or something and you… weren't sure about that for once.

"It's probably nothing Kim. I'm honestly not sure myself." Yeah, you weren't sure that any of the cheerleaders would be interested in you, but you weren't going to follow up on this right this minute. Whatever's going on there it can wait, and you don't need to bother Kim about it. It's not like she's super interested in your dating schedule anyway. "And besides, I'm like 60% sure whatever it is isn't serious." You shoved the thing in your locker to be dealt with later. You had bigger fish to fry.

When the school day finally ended, you set out throughout the suburbs of Middleton to see if there was anything you missed at all. Talking to people and meeting them wasn't that bad, though having people constantly calling you Rob, Ren, Rod, Won, Don or even Steve got grating after a while. Did people really not understand that your name was RON?! Gosh, it was like you needed to beat it into their heads or something… and no, even though doing something outlandishly supervillain to gain name recognition would work it was totally not something you'd do. No siree, that thought certainly wasn't a regular thought at moments like this, no sirree bob. Meanwhile, you tried to test out the little discovery that you'd made yesterday. It was hard, like trying to see something that was [i]just[/i] out of sight but close enough that you could know it was there. It kinda annoyed you, to be honest. Once you got to the haunted house, though, things changed. You could see the dark aura of some kind just floating around it, and you could almost hear some sort of wailing come from the place. It was pretty creepy. When that was finished you continued on throughout the neighborhoods, watching for anything out of the ordinary.

You didn't find anything, and after a few hours of aimlessly walking a grumbling in your pocket told you that it was time for Dinner, and you concluded your search to retire home. If you couldn't find things with your new built-in weird detector, there probably wasn't anything worth mentioning. That night, you sat down in front of the desk your dad bought you years ago that had only seen it's first actual use in november to write yet another letter to your penpal.

 _Dear Jazz,_

 _Hey, so, I know you're really worried about me, but I got some big news that I should probably get off my chest first. I think I met your godfather! At least, I met a guy named Vlad Masters who definitely knew your parents names. Now, that may not be undeniable proof but I'm pretty sure I got the right person. He said he'd try to contact you about it so I hope I was right!_

 _Now, the ghost thing. Okay, look. Unless you can definitively prove that what I saw wasn't real, then I'm going to stick with the line of caution here and keep believing in what I saw. I'm sorry, but that's the safest course of action for me. Thank you for your concern though. It really means alot to me._

 _Wishing you luck on the godfather front,_

 _Ron Stoppable_

It was short, but there really wasn't much else to say without risking things getting kinda awkward. Heck, if you were lucky you'd even be able to meet he sometime soon to clear up this whole 'ghost' business. With the enveloped licked by Rufus and sealed properly, you sent it out with a small bit of hope in your heart. Maybe things would turn out okay...

XxX

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! And you were up for yet another Paintball match! Mister B had even nodded approvingly when you'd laid out your reasons for it. You guessed that he approved of keeping everyone's skills sharp, and making sure that your newest recruit was properly integrated into your team tactics. At least, that was how he'd put it. You really just wanted to see which way Mankey'd jump when you put him under active combat stress. Yeah, combat stress testing. Not seeing him get totally owned by Mr B like the rest of you.

As you walked out of your home for another one of the week's meetings, you were greeted by an envelope. As you opened it up, you were greeted by expensive looking paper with an official-looking tone to it.

 _Dear Ronald Stoppable,_

 _You have been cordially invited to spend your next weekend at the Masters Manor as thanks for services rendered and as an opportunity to meet with your pen pal, Jazz Fenton. Should you choose to accept this invitation, please call 1-(722)-537-7326 to arrange travel details. If you choose to reject it, please call the same number to inform me of your decision. I hope to see you on Friday!_

 _Thank you,_

 _Vlad Masters_

 _P.S. I have heard you keep a hairless mole-rat as a pet, feel free to bring him along._

Well, that was cool! You'd definitely have to think about it though you weren't sure how you could fit it into your schedule. Luckily, there [i]was[/i] a banking holiday on Friday so you'd be able to swing it if you accepted. Still, you had meeting stuff to get done!

Of course, you'd have a paintball match first! Maybe you'd actually manage to eke out a win this time! You did have a good feeling about things, after all.

XxX

Well, that hurt. Lots. You didn't think Mr Barkin could have gotten any more difficult to deal with in the field than you'd experienced before. Well, perhaps he hadn't, but having Bonnie on his side certainly didn't make things easier for you. Sure, it made total sense that he'd need to start evening out teams to make sure he didn't get rolled over each and every time but dear god was it a lot harder to fight against two people. Mankey, though he wasn't anywhere near the level of you guys yet, did know how to handle the gun and performed… admirably given the circumstances. You still lost each time, but with him, Tara and Brick on your side you'd been able to put up a hell of a fight. Especially when you finally deployed something Mankey said he'd been working on in his free time before the match. Somehow the crazy guy had made a paint [i]grenade[/i] that he allowed you the honor of using. You even managed to utterly ruin the suit Bonnie was using in your final match with it, though apparently when Mr Barkin saw a grenade he was somehow able to dodge the thing and take you guys out while you thought you'd won.

It was fun, even if you lost. But hey, sometimes losing was fun!

At the meeting things were pretty normal, weird as that was to think. You guessed that even hunting for supernatural monsters out for your precious bodily fluids could get normal over time. You started things first this week to try and get things moving.

"I didn't find anything in Middleton this week," you said, "I asked around, corrected people about my name about three dozen times, and found absolutely nada. Probably a good thing though right?"

There were a number of agreeing murmurs from the club, and Tara stood up from where she was sitting. "I couldn't find anything either," she admitted, "Sorry guys, but there wasn't anything about people missing and showing up again or anything else I could connect to a person being a werewolf, not on the human side."

She looked over at Mankey, "I hear that other people had more luck though?"

Mankey grinned at her and looked towards Mister B, who nodded back solemnly and gestured for him to move to the front of the classroom, which Mankey immediately did.

"Alright," Mankey started, "Like Tara said, Mister Barkin and I had some luck. Totally thanks to him though, I don't have much in the way of fieldcraft yet, but Mister Barkin was awesome." Mister B preens a bit at that. You should... probably say nice things to him yourself, he probably doesn't get many compliments being the strict sub and all.

"We found some tracks, and Mister Barkin managed to work out the general hunting range the werewolf is probably using in the forest. It's still pretty preliminary, but we've got an area to focus on now out there!"

There was some applause for that from just about everyone. Mankey did have a way with people after all, even if you still weren't completely convinced. Still, that was good. Even if you didn't know where he spent the other half of his time, knowing where this thing was going when it was full spirit was valuable intel.

Mankey moved back to his seat and shared some high fives along the way. Bonnie stepped up next, looking like her usual smug self. You guessed she'd had some success too.

"So, I totally managed to get the thief arrested without anyone finding out I did anything," she smirked at everyone, but especially you, "I used the info we had, built up a model of their behavior, checked it out, and used it to get the police on their case. Easy peasy. I've got a report if anyone wants to learn something." That last was directed primarily at you, and had Bonnie's usual bite to it.

Wow. You knew that Bonnie could do some serious damage when she wanted to, but it was rare that she put this much into things. Maybe she thought of it as competing with Kim? Kim took down supervillains by being big and flashy, but Bonnie had stopped a criminal without them evening knowing she'd messed with them.

"What was it? The pattern, that is?" Mr. Barkin seemed impressed, but there was something… off about the way he said that. Like he knew something he probably shouldn't. Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"The creep dressed up as people from the victim's house and snuck in to steal the goods. He was, like, some really obsessed make-up artist or something." Mr B's brow furrowed a little deeper. That… was not a good sign.

"Any real discrepancies about the people they assumed disguises for? Something that bucked the trends?" Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"Of course there were, he was imitating a lot of different people. There was one person who talked about some missing jewelry from her place but I was almost certain it was her young kid that did it." His eyebrow rose a little higher at that. "What? I can't think that some person would decide chopping their legs off would be a great idea to make a quick buck! It had to be the kid who robbed her, not the same guy." Mr. Barkin turned to Vivian.

"Porter, can you bring up the recent police reports?" Vivian nodded, obviously getting whatever point he was trying to make.

"I'm looking and… yep. 'Police officer found beaten up in gas station stall with wallet stolen. Other officers allegedly reported that he went out of the car with a prisoner to give them a bathroom break on the way to jail when someone they say looked just like him came up screaming about the convict getting loose. Minutes later whomever it was stole the car and got away. The cruiser was later found in a ditch around Lowerton.' That doesn't sound like a closed case to me." You could see Bonnie deflate a little as her fists tightened. You actually felt kind of bad for her. Before she could say anything, Mr B intervened.

"You did good work, Rockwaller. Your mistake was using the police. We're probably dealing with a changeling and that means he's probably lived his entire life dodging the heat. This probably isn't the first time this has happened. We're probably hunting a changeling then." Well, that was probably bad, whatever it was. Worse than a human thief, for sure ...this meant you had ANOTHER thing to research didn't it? Dang it!

Vivian wasn't done though, "I have a hand out for everyone on Demons if we end up needing to deal with the idiot frat boys." She gave each of you another small packet that you should probably read sooner rather than later before sitting down.

Last up was Brick. He still wasn't totally confident with public speaking, but he seemed up for things. "Yeah," he said, "I was checking out Lowerton, and overall things were pretty quiet. I only heard any weirdness about one place, so I went over and checked it out. I found this." He holds up a scale that looks... oddly familiar.

"Where'd you find that Brick?" you asked.

"At this lake a ways outside of town." You have a bad feeling about this. "It's got a bunch of summer camps on it, but it's mostly closed down for the winter now." Oh no, it can't be! " I thought the name sounded familiar, but I didn't know from where until Bonnie reminded me." Nononononononononono Please no PLEASE DEAR SWEET MERCIFUL LORD NO! "Place is called Lake Wannaweep."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Quietly reeling in your panic, you collected yourself for the final part of the meeting.


	21. Week 10 pt 1- Driving and Sewer Diving

Once you got your internal screaming under control, you paused for a moment to think. This was going to be a full week, you could tell right now. There was a lot to be done, multiple monsters to hunt, and on top of everything else this week had the practical tests for Driver's Ed! Still, you had a plan!

"Alright guys," you said, "This week is mostly going to be getting ready. We're going on a hunt!"

Bonnie rolled her eyes, "Let me guess, going out to the boonies to hunt the swamp thing?" You shook your head.

"Nah, much as I'd love to take Gill down, I'm pretty sure he's going to stay there for a little while. We've still got a vampire sniffing around in the sewers that needs to be taken care of. You're going with me, Barkin, Brick and Shego to do that. Got it?"

"Whatever," She scowled but didn't really resist. That was probably the best you were going to get when you were the one telling her she'd be spending time in a sewer tunnel.

"Good. We'll meet up on Wednesday to plan out how we're going to do this and then we'll do it on Thursday." Mr. Barkin scratched his chin.

"I don't think I'll have time after school on Thursday to get this done. Could you hold it off until the weekend?" You shook your head.

"Not really. I'm meeting up with my pen pal out of state thanks to someone and this is kinda the only opportunity I've got to do that. I don't know, maybe we co-" Vivian raised a hand.

"If you guys want you can use the Robot Rumble rails system to get to the hideout and back during your lunch period. The tunnels run underneath the whole Tri-City area including the school, and there's an emergency exit I had installed in the basement just in case. You could be there and back in a jiffy!" Well, that solved that problem! Now you just had to give the other assignments.

"Thanks Viv, now I want you to prep us for the Demon fight this week. You should know what we need." She gave you a nod before you turned to Tara and Josh.

"I want both of you to run info-gathering on the thief and the ghosts respectively. From what Mister B and Viv said, it's pretty clear the thief's part of the club's job, and that ghost seriously wigged me out." You caught Brick nodding along in furious agreement to that last bit. Guess he was freaked too. "Good, now I'll see you all next week!"

And then you got to worry about mundane problems for a change. Driving stuff. Yay.

XxX

The first thing you did when you got home that night was deal with Mister Masters' invite. You needed to talk the whole thing over with your parents too, they might not be one hundred percent behind the idea of you popping off to Wisconsin on short notice. Still, they let you go on missions with KP so there probably wouldn't be any problems there.

The first thing you did when you got home as ask your dad if it was OK for you to go to a stranger's house over the weekend. You probably shouldn't have phrased it that way, but so he was cool with it anyway. He was surprisingly cool about the whole thing. You'd expected him not to object, but when he heard that one of your extracurriculars had netted you a legitimate non-Kim related connection to a billionaire industrialist he was all for it. Apparently, Mister Masters was heavily involved in a lot of stuff that made actuarial work easier throughout the Midwest. Who knew?

After getting the OK from your dad for a long distance call to Wisconsin, you called the number Mister Masters had given you.

"Hello," you said as the phone connected through.

"Ah," came Vlad Masters' voice over the line, "Mister Stoppable. I take it you're calling regarding this weekend's visit?"

"Ah, yeah," you replied, "How'd you know it was me though?"

"The wonders of modern technology dear boy, Caller ID. I don't get many calls from Colorado besides those from our mutual friend. Now, will Jasmine and I be seeing you this weekend?"

"Yes sir, Mister M, I'm looking forward to it. First time I'll be in Wisconsin without having to thwart a supervillain!"

"Yes, that unfortunate business with the World's Largest Wheel of Cheese. Thank you for that by the way. If that malcontent Drakken had his way my entire home state would have been buried in molten hot lava!"

"S'no big Mister M, all part of the job. So, how're we doing this?"

"Do not worry dear boy, I'll send a car to escort you from school on Friday. The chauffeur will pick up your luggage beforehand, simply have your things ready before you leave for school that day. The car will take you to the airport, where my private jet will fly you here to my castle."

Wow, he had a literal castle? With its own runway? That was badical! Ordinarily, you might object to the whole chauffeurs and jets setup, but anybody who moved in the same circles as the Seniors had to be swimming in money.

"Alright, Mister M, I'll see you and Jazz Friday!"

"Very good Ronald. Thank you for putting her and I in touch by the way. If Jack Fenton had his way I would have only found out about Jasmine in the aftermath of a tragedy. I very much appreciate the opportunity to get to know my goddaughter, and I have that thanks to you."

"You're welcome Mister M! I was glad to help. I know Jazz was worried about having someone in her family she could talk to who wasn't obsessed with Ghosts. I had a little close encounter myself recently, and when I told her she freaked out"

"Oh did you? I have some training in Ghostly Science myself. I [i]was[/i] lab partners with Jasmine's parents once upon a time. You just bring whatever information you have, and we can go over it this weekend. And not to worry, while I am many things, obsessed about ghosts is not one of them."

"Great! I'll see you Friday then Mister M!"

"Very Good Ronald, I'm looking forward to it!"

[color=transparent] Hundreds of miles away a billionaire industrialist began to smirk and laugh most evilly. [/color]

You hung up the phone with a click, and started to think. The second half of the week was going to be pretty packed! Planning Wednesday, Hunt Thursday, Flight on Friday, and Driver's Ed throughout! With a groan you faced the facts. You were going to have to pack and get ready days in advance. Still, you didn't have to do it today! No, all you had to deal with today was making sure all your homework was done, and doing some studying for Driver's Ed. The sooner you passed that the sooner you'd have one less thing to worry about!

XxX

Monday dawned cold and clear, a typical Middleton morning in November. It seriously didn't understand the importance of this event, obviously. Not to mention that Kim didn't get the true things at stake of what you were doing even as you walked beside her. Well, it was time to impress upon her the true consequences this little test could have.

"Look, Kim. This isn't just a test. This isn't just like a final. This is Driver's Ed, KP! It's like one of the biggest, hairiest deals there is?" She rolled her eyes a little bit at the melodramatics, but you knew you were getting to her. After all, if she didn't take this seriously she'd probably fail and be relegated to doom.

"Come on, Ron. It's driver's Ed. No big?" Yeah, you were going to need to push just a little bit harder to help her.

"No big, KP? No big? Huh, okay. Failing one of the most important teenage rites of passage and losing one of the greatest freedoms a sixteen year old can have is no big?! I don't think you get how much this means to high schoolers everywhere." You thought you were getting to her, but she didn't seem shaken.

"Come on Ron, you need to stop freaking out. It'll just be us getting behind the wheel of a car and driving. It's not that hard." Huh, when she put it that way she kinda had a point. "Besides, we travel the world, fight supervillains, and save the world on a weekly basis.. This is nothing compared to fighting Shego." That or fighting monsters… Yeah, she might have a point here. This wasn't hard compared to fighting evil 24/7. You could do this! With the crowd of your classmates standing around, Mr. Barkin drove up to the curb and stepped out. He took a moment to survey all of you.

"People, today is the most important day of your young lives. Today you pass through the doorway to adulthood," He gestured towards the driver's ed car, "Today.. You drive." He was greeted by the cheers of everyone, before pulling out a tv.

"But first, a film." He pressed the play button, and you saw a grainy black and white image forming on the screen. It looked like some sort of horror film about cars, but you couldn't really bring yourself to be scared about it. The crashes it showed were gruesome, but then again you'd actually seen a dead body by yourself. It wasn't really terrifying in comparison. After a while, you just sort of tuned it out and thought about other ideas. Like how to take down a super strong vampire with fear powers that lived in a sewer. Finally, Mr Barkin turned the little abomination of a video off and turned to the class.

"Now who would like to go first?" You were about to raise your hand, but one of the cheerleaders beat you to the punch. Ten minutes later, she got out of the car shaking and on the verge of tears. Mr. Barkin simply grumbled while drawing a large X on his clipboard.

"Next?" One of the guys you didn't really talk to walked up. He didn't even last the full ten minutes before Mr. B found himself back at the start writing off another student. It went on like this for a while before you finally raised your hand to get into the screaming metal deathtrap. Quietly, you strapped on the seat-belt before adjusting the mirrors. Sure, your hands were shaking but it was one of the most important things in your teen life. You couldn-

"So, we're going to be doing the hunt during lunch on Thursday?" You turned to see Mr. Barkin slowly checking off some things on his sheet.

"Yeah. I think that we'll be able to swing it even if time'll be a bit limited. Did you tell Shego about the plan?" He nodded as you put the car into drive and continued to advance through the course.

"She's been waiting for something to happen. Apparently, our new teacher has been getting bored. If experience has taught me anything, it's that people who get bored tend to do… stupid things." Well, then you were glad you'd made your call then. Sure, she could be a bit difficult but you could work around her just like you were going around these cones.

"Well, that's good. I just hope everything goes smoothly. You have any good ideas for how to fight this thing?" From the rearview mirror you saw Mr. B shake his head as you reversed.

"Nothing beyond the normal 'hit it until it dies'. You can't really do something big when he's right under the rest of the city. Too many feathers will get ruffled, and too many people might end up as collateral damage." Yeah, you were the good guys weren't going to be hurting any innocents if you could help it.

"Well, this'll be… something to talk about at the meeting, right?"

"Good, now put the car in park Stoppable." With a motion, you shifted the gear back into it's original position.

"Wait, what about the test?" You'd been so busy talking that you hadn't payed attention to the road.

"You passed with flying colors, Stoppable. Just bring this to the cashier at the DMV, and you'll get your probationary license. The real thing will be coming in the mail. Now," He turned to KP, "Possible! Get in here! Do half as well as your sidekick and you'll be able to get your license." Kim gave you a reassuring smile before stepping into the vehicle. You really didn't think you'd done that well. You looked over the sheet Mr. B handed you to make sure you weren't going crazy. It was filled with check marks and a big 100% was circled on the front.

Huh. Apparently you were just that good. As you basked in the glow of your own success, you sat back and waited for KP to finish her own test. After about ten more minutes, she finally stepped out of the car with a weak smile on her face. Mr. B handed her a sheet before turning to Bonnie.

"Now, do you want to continue this string of successes or start another streak of failures?" She snorted derisively before stepping into the car. You turned to Kim with a wide smile on your face.

"So, what'd you get? A? A+?" She gave you a shy smile before kicking at the ground.

"I got a B for everything. I'm just glad I only had to go through that once. The video Mr. Barkin showed beforehand was really creepy. It kinda wigged me out." You could understand that. You'd just seen worse was all. Of course, if you hadn't been getting used to unspeakable horrors and blood drenched streets you'd probably have maimed yourself in a panic.

All's well that ends well.

XxX

By the time school was over on Wednesday, you were chomping at the bit. You were going to be planning your second hunt! That was a big deal! The whole club was gathered together in an empty classroom, and you were ready to start the planning!

"OK guys," you started, "What do we know?"

Viv, here in her capacity as Miss Information, laid it out, "This particular Bloodsucker is looking into the death of the Vampire the club already took out. I've managed to keep it from finding anything of note, but it's probably still sniffing around. You should all still have the packets I did up about Nosferatu. Just to recap, they're tough, ugly, and scary as hell. I've got the area this one's based in zeroed in down in the sewers under the tricity. It's sorta my home base so it wasn't hard to track this guy down." She brings out a pda and projects a map of the tricity area onto the front of the room, with a glowing face with big fangs and huge ears shining red to mark the vampire's hiding place.

"Alright People," Mister B says, "What's it going to be?"

[] Go Loud

Weapons: Mr Barkin- Shotgun and stake, Bonnie- Shotgun and Stake, Ron- Shotgun and stake, Brick- Sledgehammer, Shego- Fists

Armor: Henchco Dusk ops suits suits

Danger- Medium

Subtlety: Low

[] Go Quiet

Loadout: Mr Barkin- Pistol, Bonnie- Stake and pistol, Ron- Stake and pistol, Brick- Stake and pistol, Shego- Fists

Armor: Henchco Dusk ops suits suits

Danger- Low if undetected, High if detected

Subtlety: High

[] Write in (subject to GM approval)


	22. Week 10 Pt 2- Bad Decisions

Thursday morning was uneventful given what was going to happen that day, but you figured that was good. Getting called out to destroy an evil super weapon or stop a natural disaster would be the worst thing to do right before you were about to kill some creepy vampire. When lunchtime hit, you left your class while telling Kim that you needed to attend a club meeting for lunch. She wasn't thrilled about it. She asked about possibly coming along, but you made sure she knew that it was members only, and not worth losing her lunch over. With a weak nod, she departed for the Cafeteria while you made your way to the school's basement.

Mr Barkin was waiting at the head of the stairwell with Brick in tow. When you hit the top step, he motioned for the two of you to follow him down the stairs and pointed to a room on the left. You were greeted by three of the Hench suits hung up, and your weapons on a small rack in the corner of the room. Mr Barkin and Brick began to change into the gear while you just looked on awkwardly.

"Come on, Stoppable It's just us men here. Nothing to be embarrassed about. Just suit up so we can move out." With a sigh, you conceded, taking off your shirt and dropping your pants to show the world your fearless ferret boxers for the few seconds it took to put on the pants of the suit. After fitting the mask around your head, you grabbed one of the two guns laying on the rack and checked it over. Mr B always said it was best to make sure nothing was wrong with your equipment before going on a mission. It would really suck to have a gun jam during the battle. Especially when you sort of taped a flashlight to it. Once you were sure there would be no firing malfunctions in your future, you looked back to Mr B and Brick. The two had already finished their checkups and were good to go. He opened to door just as the one on the other side of the hall did to let Bonnie and Shego out in their suits. The black fabric, while not necessarily flattering played well on their athletic physiques. Sure, they totally looked like black-ops soldiers or criminals but you were sure all of you did. It was the Henchco standard, after all! You could tell Shego apart from everyone else because one of her gloves were green. Probably because her fire would melt other gloves.

Mr Barkin lead the four of you deeper into the basement, turning to step into the boiler room and walking to a wall away from the giant metal thing. He knocked and the wall and it slid aside for you to reveal a well-lit pit with a ladder leading down to another door. There wasn't much to be said, really. Everyone knew what they were here for and there really wasn't much to talk about other than school which would probably devolve into complaining about teachers and that wouldn't work when two of them were right there.

Luckily, Vivian's system was fast enough that you didn't really have to think of ideas. With a small motion, you turned on your flashlight and peered into the dark outside of the rail car. A few flicks later, and the lights mounted on Barkin's and Bonnie's guns were up too. A green glow shone out as Shego's hands lit up around her. With a bit of trepidation, the five of you continued down the dark hallway every one of you looking for some sign of… life? Death? Unlife? Yeah, you'd go with that one. Luckily, your vicious vampire villain didn't seem interested in attacking while you walked farther into the dark.

It didn't stop things from being really creepy, though. Especially since you could swear the lights you had were getting dimmer as you continued on. Like they were black tendrils of darkness snuffing out the light themselves. Well, all the light except for the glow of Shego's hands for some reason. That was kind of weird, but not something you felt like bringing up right now. When you finally came up to the door, you could see a mist of darkness coming out from the bottom of the door, and the flimsy piece of wood was kicked over as the enemy barreled out into the hallway. You looked up at him and you could see the darkness radiating from his emaciated form.

[color=transparent]Hello ugly. I'd say the tentacles of darkness are a nice touch, but they really aren't. My brothers are scarier than you in their suits.[/color]

And they were coming for you. The inky blackness broke from its host and curled out towards all of you. With a scream, you jumped away from the creepy things that groped for your feet. Beside you everyone else shivered a bit like they couldn't see what was happening. While you you were busy dodging creepy black tentacles, you saw the thing lunge at Brick, who almost seemed to dodge the Vampire like a badly thrown football. Sadly, Brick wasn't fast enough to get out of the way, and the creature bit into his torso. When you saw him getting wounded so badly, your gun raised up and fired at the thing. Sadly, it was right then that the shadows jumped towards you and in reaction your blast went wild, hitting more of the ceiling than the monster. On the other side of the room, Mr B used the fact that Brick was physically holding down the monster after he managed to tear at him to plant the barrel of his gun into the Nosferatu's stomach before he pulled the trigger. A spray of blood splattered out onto your suit is the things let out a deathly shriek.

[color=transparent] Note to self, never piss off the Teacher.[/color]

While it reeled away from the barrels, you heard a clanking noise as Brick's hammer fell to the ground. Your larger fellow roared in anger as he threw a brutal right hook into the pained Vampire's face, then a left following that in it's shredded stomach, then another right that you could swear broke one of the Vampire's teeth. Not letting up, Bonnie used the moment Brick stopped to blast away with both barrels itself. She managed to shred one of its bony knees.

[color=transparent] Well, this was disappointing. Might as well have some fun ending this.[/color]

At this point, the Nosferatu could tell where this battle was going and tried to get away from it all as fast as he could. However, the damage from everyone hitting him by themselves was too much and he could only hit the ground with a whimper. As he weakly tried to get back up, Shego was there before it could even stand straight. With almost gruesome ease, she forced her hand through the Vampire's ribcage, and soon the smell of burning flesh permeated the small corridor as the villainess made a crushing motion, and Nosferatu himself was engulfed by the Green flames that even consumed the darkness around you. Seconds later, it was gone, and everything was done.

[color=transparent] Well, the was…[i] something[/i][/color]

While he put pressure onto his wound Brick looked up at you all. "So, who here is hungry? I kinda forgot we were skipping lunch for this. I'll totally drive when w-" Mr Barkin gave him a pointed stare. "Riiiight after I get this looked at. Anyone else want to dii- [i]okay[/i], I get it Mr B. Sorry, I'll go to the family doctor and say a big dog got me."

That was it, then. This wasn't nearly as hard as you'd thought it would be, spooky stuff notwithstanding. Maybe you [i]could[/i] do this. If you weren't too busy NOT HELPING next time that is.

XxX

Well, that happened. After the hunt, the rest of your school day passed you by. You were almost completely out of it. This was because the enormity of what had happened had finally hit you. You'd flaked! Completely! Totally! Utterly! Seriously, what was wrong with you?!

You'd known going in that the Nosferatu was going to be a terrifying man-eating monster, and you still freaked out. [i]Bonnie[/i] had contributed more to the fight than you had. [b]BONNIE[/b], little miss perfect obnoxious cheerleader socializer had gotten a shot in and you hadn't.

As a result of your funk, you were too spaced out to really pay attention to the rest of your classes. It got so bad that Kim confronted you about it once school let out. She usually let you be you, but you guessed that when you were [i]this[/i] clearly messed up she'd do what she could. It was pretty cool of her to want to help, you guessed.

"Ron, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Ah, KP. I dunno," you replied. It wasn't like you could actually tell her that you'd basically blown a mission today. Oh, things had gone alright, nobody on your side got badly hurt, and the vampire was dead, but you hadn't done a blessed thing to cause that.

Kim looked at you closely with narrowed eyes. "I know it's not driver's ed. You passed that with flying colors. Your grades have been great lately period. You're not dating anyone right now, and your Hunting Club buddies are all fine too. Did Shego do something? I know she had that massive weird freak out after lunch, but she didn't hurt you or anything did she?!"

You sighed listlessly, "No, KP, Shego didn't do anything. It's me and my fears and anxieties that are the problem."

A look of comprehension appeared on her face, and Kim thrust a finger at you "You're worried about meeting your pen-pal this weekend aren't you?!"

Oh Jeez, you'd completely forgotten about that! You needed to pack! You needed to get ready! You... aww what was the point?

"Yeah, KP, I'm worried. I dunno. I mean, what do I know about making a good impression on smart girls or rich business guys? I'm just gonna screw it up, cause I'm a screwup."

Kim gave you one of those looks she always used when you were being especially oblivious. "Ron, you are [i]not[/i] a screwup! And you get along fine with rich guys! Remember Pop Pop Porter? Or the Seniors?" She shuddered briefly and muttered under her breath, "Actually, come to think of it, you've been getting along with them a little too well."

You ignored her little aside and went straight for the obvious flaw in her argument. "Girls KP! I don't know anything about 'em!"

"Ron."

"What?"

"I've been your best friend for more than a decade."

"So?"

Kim rolled her eyes. "I am, in fact, a girl."

You rolled your eyes right back. "That's different Kim! I can't treat her like I treat you! You're my best friend!"

"Why not?" Kim asked, "Seriously Ron, just be yourself. You want to be actual friends with this girl right? Not just school assigned letter writers?"

"Well, yeah, I do."

"Then just be honest. If there's one thing I've learned being your friend Ron, it's that [i]you[/i] have to be [i]you[/i]. Be upfront with her about who you are. You can't base a friendship on lies and deception! That's a supervillain thing to do!"

And you were totally not a supervillain, despite your growing contacts in that community, and the merc work, and the recruiting of evil sidekicks... Where were you going with this again? You paused for a moment in thought. Right! You had to be You! And You were good!

"Y'know what KP? You're right! I'll be myself! It's the only thing I can be! I learned that after the le goo incident. I'll just be myself, and work at it, and won't have any problems performing ever again!"

You nodded to yourself in satisfaction, nodded to Kim in farewell, and headed off to your scooter to go home and pack.

[color=transparent] ...Problems performing?! What have you been [i]doing[/i] Ron?!" [/color]

You took Kim's advice to heart. Everything you packed was filled with your quintessential Ronness. Your favorite jerseys, beaucoup cooking and cheese related paraphernalia, and anything and everything Rufus might need for the trip. Your little buddy was pre-tty relieved that you'd finally come out of your funk, and spent the whole time you were packing running around squeaking at the top of his voice to make sure you got everything you needed. He was the one who made sure you brought a copy of all your ghost research! Not that you had much, but every bit counted, and you knew you were going to be dealing with some seriously ingrained skepticism from Jazz. Vlad would probably help, but you needed to defend your own experiences and opinions right?

When you'd finished up packing your dad happened to walk by your room. "Ronald, I have something for you to take with you."

"What's that dad?"

"You're not going to be home this Friday, so I thought you might want to bring a little guest present with you when you visited with your new friends."

You blinked in confusion, "What do you mean dad?"

"I'm going to get a fresh loaf of challah from the baker for you to take with you tomorrow morning. You can share it with your hosts. It'll be nice!"

"Gee," you said in surprise, "Thanks dad, you don't have to do that though! I'm bringing tons of cheesy goodness with me."

Your dad shook his head in amusement, "I thought you would be Ronald, but I also thought that this would be a nice statement as well. If nothing else it's a way for your mother and I to be there a bit. This is the first time you're going out of state by yourself!"

He looked at you sternly before you can rebut that you've been out of Colorado a [i]lot[/i] over the years, "Without Kim. Just for your own friends and reasons, not hers. Not that there's anything wrong with helping her out! But this is [i]your[/i] thing. It's a big step! I wanted to help with some positive reinforcement!"

That... that was really cool of him. Huh. It looked like your parents were taking notice of your improved grades and social skills too. You weren't sure how to feel about that. You loved your parents, but they weren't always the best at the whole... parenting thing. Seeing your dad being supportive like this was... nice.

"Thanks, Dad," you said with a grin, "That's really nice of you!"

"Think nothing of it Ronald," he grinned back, "I'm glad I can help!"

And with that, your Thursday ended.

xXx

Friday at school things were pretty copacetic. You weren't freaking out anymore, and nobody in the Club was ribbing you about your total lack of help. Mister B was even nice enough to take you aside during your free period and check with you to make sure you were alright.

"Nosferatu Fear is a strange thing Stoppable. You [i]seem[/i] to have bounced back pretty well all things considered. [i]Are[/i] you doing alright?"

"Sure, Mister B. I'm gonna get right back on the horse! That is the right metaphor? Horses? Only? I was never really clear on the cowboy idioms...?"

Mister B sighed and smiled at you. "Yes, Stoppable, that's the right metaphor. I'm glad you're not too spooked."

"Nah, don't worry about me Mister B, the whole evil shadowy tentacles reaching for me was pretty freaksome, but I'm over it. I'll just try harder next time."

Mister B raised a single eyebrow at you, nodded carefully, and gestured for you to go back to working on homework.

The rest of the Club mostly kept themselves to themselves. Nods in the hall and a few snatches of conversation here and there as the day wore on, but nobody confronted you. Even Shego was pretty quiet for some reason. She just assigned work without making any weird comments or throwing any insults at anyone. You guessed actually seeing that the supernatural was real and hungry for blood was enough to get her to calm down a bit.

Finally though, after what seemed like forever school was [b]done[/b]. Now all you had to do was find this guy who was picking you up for Mister Masters. Now, what would he send for something like this...?

OK, that's a stretch limo. A [i]super[/i] stretch limo. Did Junior get a new car or something while you weren't paying attention? Who the heck else would send something like that to pick someone up from Middleton High?

As you stared at the massive vehicle, the chauffeur parked, got out, and held up a sign. Huh, who was Reynhild Stuppaple? After a minute or two of holding up the weird name and getting no responses he doublechecked the sign, and smacked his forehead. He took the sign down, and fiddled with it a bit. He held it back up over his head and now it said, "Ronald Stoppable." Huh... WAIT THAT'S YOU!

You ran over to the guy, an older man with long grey hair and pallid, almost greenish skin. This guy needs some more sunlight! As you ran, you raised a hand, waved, and shouted, "Yeah! That's me! I'm Ron Stoppable!"

The guy looked you up and down and nodded once before silently gesturing to the backseat of the stretch. Huh, guess he wasn't a big talker. The inside of the limo was, well, there was no other word for it. Opulent. Seriously, how much had Mister Masters spent on this thing?! Rich [i]Corinthian[/i] leather seats, enough space to throw a party, and ... was that a fully stocked minibar?! Stocked with your FAVORITE SODAS!? HOW HAD HE KNOWN!? The only thing missing was ...

A soft whirring came from next to the minibar, as a door in the top of the counter opened, and a your usual deluxe naco order rose up in front of you. For a moment you were just stunned, before the realization came over you. Vlad Masters was the best host EVER!

You and Rufus chowed down in peace, and pretty soon you were at the airport and boarding a private plane marked with a logo that proclaimed ownership by DALV. Huh, you would have thought it'd say Masters Incorporated or something. Weirdly, it looked like your chauffeur was also your pilot, as he tipped a pilot's cap to you as you headed into the passenger cabin.

Anyway, the plane was just as nice as the limo had been. Heck, it was as nice as any of the private jets you'd been on missions! You'd known Mister Masters had some serious influence and cash, but you hadn't realized it was on the level of an international shipping magnate or a world famous pop star!

The flight was only about two hours long, so you relaxed with some of the in flight amenities. Rufus lobbied for Pain King vs Steel Toe 3 the Revengening, but you were adamant. The Fearless Ferret meets Wonder Weasel was the [i]only[/i] way to go. The time passed quickly, and before you knew it the jet had landed in Wisconsin, and the long haired old guy bundled you out of the plane and onto the tarmac. He went back in to get your luggage and you and Rufus were left staring at the gigantic castle. You'd seen some castles in your day, sometimes it seemed like every supervillain who wanted a hint of dignity went for the old and rocky style, but this one was actually pretty tasteful.

Literally.

CHEESE EVERYWHERE!

You and Rufus teared up a little at the sheer beauty of it all.

You weren't standing alone for more than a moment though, because one of those airport shuttle cars was headed straight for you. There were two people in it, the driver had long white hair and the passenger had bright shoulder length red hair that was only about two shades off from Kim's. That had to be Vlad and Jazz! You started waving at them in greeting. Sure, you might be a little energetic about it, but you were excited! This was awesome!

Hey! You could hear them!

"Ron!" That had to be Jazz, there was no way Mister Masters would call you by your first name. The shuttle pulled to a halt in front of you, and the pilot/chauffeur appeared from nowhere to drop your luggage into the back.

Jazz jumped out of the shuttle and ran up to you. "Ron! It's so good to finally meet you! Thanks so much for coming!"

You nodded bashfully, "It's cool Jazz, I was happy to! I was mostly just glad that I hadn't gotten a random stranger on your case or anything."

"No indeed, my boy, no indeed," came Mister Masters voice as he walked up to the two of you."Thank you once again. I wouldn't have known anything about Jasmine unless the worst had happened." He smirked at her a bit, "I think she's been enjoying having someone in the family who doesn't blather on about ghosts as well."

"Oh my god! YES!" Jazz yelled, "Thank you SO MUCH RON. I [i]finally[/i] have a family member I can relate to! I mean, yes, he hasn't gone into academia the way I'm hoping to, but Uncle Vlad is so much more down to earth than my parents!"

"Yes, well, Madeleine didn't used to be quite so focused when we were younger," Vlad responded, "She was always the brains of the operation though. I expect living with Jack all day everyday for years might weather anyone's logic a bit."

"She's not that bad," Jazz replied, "Really, she's my inspiration. She's a genius! I just wish she didn't focus on something as patently ridiculous as GHOSTS!"

Vlad nodded in agreement, "I know dear, we've had this discussion a round dozen times since I made contact with your parents again. I still agree with you, don't worry."

"Uh, not to break up the love fest, but it's kinda cold out here on the runway," you put in, "Can we head inside?"

"Of course my boy!" Vlad cried, "How rude of me! My deepest apologies! Let's get you in out of the cold and get you some hot chocolate! Everyone into the shuttle!"

The three of you piled in and sped off to the castle. En route, you dug the Challah, only lightly mushed from the ride, and passed it to Jazz. "My parents sent this with me as a kinda guest gift. Since it's Friday and all. I can make a mean french bread with it tomorrow morning if you guys want."

"That sounds great Ron! Tell them thanks, it was really nice of them to think of us like that! My parents just sent these thermoses for you and Uncle Vlad." She pulled a neon green high tech thermos from her bag. "I don't know what they're for, but my parents insisted you each have one. They're called Fenton Thermoses, and really, all they are is a thermos. My parents said they're supposed to catch ghosts too, but they couldn't get them to work, so now they're just nice souvenirs."

Well, that was... thoughtful? You nodded in thanks and tucked the thermos away in your bag. Maybe you could get Vivian or even Wade to look at the thing and figure out if it was worth anything? Whatever. You were just looking forward to your first night in a CASTLE!

xXx

Apparently, Mr Masters knew how his interior design. Well, he did in your considered opinion, if the cheesehead you were totally actually wearing was a factor. Which it totally was. You knew which team to root for if you ever watched football from now on, too. Mr. Masters made that [i]very[/i] clear in the tour he gave you after dinner last night. The bedrooms you stayed in were as luxurious as the rest of the Castle, and once you finished receiving the grand tour of the place you fell down into the fluffy mattress and fell blissfully asleep.

Well, you would have if the scent of melted cheese didn't waft through the room. Almost in a trance, you shambled out into the hallway towards the source of the scent. After about a minute of wandering, you came to the origin of the pleasant smell- the kitchen. Looking inside, you saw a large green man with a red robe and cheese hat much like yours stirring over a large pot. He put some type of glowing green cheese you'd never seen before into the thing, which was crazy! You knew every cheese type that ever was, from Brie to stuff like Milbenkase, yet this was something you'd never even [i]seen[/i] before. Rufus was similarly perplexed, given he scurried out of your pocket right in front of the strange man. He was about to grab the cheese for tasting before the guy picked him up with a hearty chuckle.

"Hey there little fella! If you want some cheese, you're going to have to be patient. The Ghost Gorgonzola doesn't really sit well with you unless it's cooked, don't ya know?" He turned to you. "You can have some too, if you like. It's been a long time since I've been able to share with guests who aren't Mister Masters." He… floated up to you. So he could whisper "And between you and me I think he's a wedge short of a full wheel up there if you know what I mean. I try to stay away from him most of the time."

You nodded, more concerned with the existence of undead cheeses than anything else. How did they taste? Where could you get them? Wh-

"Oooh, where are my manners?!" He held out a green hand. "I'm the Dairy King don't ya know! It's nice to meet'cha!" Tentatively you grabbed his hand. It was pretty creepily cold.

"You mean like the franchise?" He nodded.

"Yeah, my son started that. He even got me this mansion that I'm now haunting back when I was alive." Huh, that was pretty cool of hi-

Wait… HAUNTING?!

"YOU'RE A GHOST?!" And he seemed so cool...

"Ooh, not all ghosts are bad lad, some of us just want to be left alone to live our afterlives." You heard something from the pot. With an excited giggle, he took a pretzel stick and dipped it into the gooey green cheese sauce. "Now, would you like some Phantasm Fondue?"

Hm, freak out about a ghost or taste a form of cheese you hadn't even realized existed? No contest. Especially when he was offering one right to you.

"Yes, please, mister Dairy King." You took the gooey pretzel stick and stuck it into your mouth. It was pretty good, all told. Sure, the taste was something you'd never actually encountered before but then again you'd expect that from a cheese eaten by ghosts. Then again, you weren't exactly sure tasting this was physically possible, so you weren't going to question it too much. After all, you could honestly say you'd eaten undead cheese! How cool was that?

"Thanks for the awesome cheese, Dairy King! Now, I've got to go to sleep, there's a full day just waiting for me tomorrow and I'll need every bit of rest I can get!" Yeah, tasting weird cheeses officially put this day into the greats, but you were hoping that tomorrow would be up there too. Now you just needed to find your bed again, and get some rest.

That... would probably be easier said than done.

XxX

The next morning you came to a horrible, horrible realization. Cheese had betrayed you! Well, ghostly, undead cheese had betrayed you. A full night of tossing, turning, and general inability to properly get to sleep had followed your first foray into phantasmal fondue. If this was what some people went through when they ate Mexican food, you suddenly had a new appreciation for why it wasn't as popular as you'd thought it should be.

When you finally flopped out of the mattress, bleary-eyed and bone tired, you felt the first (and hopefully only) cheese-related pang of regret you'd ever had. Well, that or slight indigestion. Even as beaten down as you were from your tossing and turning last night, with a bit of freshening up you were close to 100% again.

You walked into the main room, where you saw Jazz talking with Mr. Masters. It looked like you'd have to make that french toast tomorrow. When you got to the bottom of the stairs, both of them gave you warm smiles.

"I trust you slept well, Ronald?" Well, at least that proved you didn't totally look as worn out as you felt right now. You made sure to return the smile as brightly as possible. Mr Master clapped his hands together. "Excellent, because we've got a full day ahead of u-" The buzz of a phone stopped him mid-sentence. He motioned for each of you to move towards another room that gave off the scent of freshly cooked bacon.

[color=transparent]What do you want, Phil? This had better be [i]god-damned[/i] [important. My god-daughter is in the next room![/color]

Mmm. Sacrilicious! Not that anyone in your family had kept kosher for the last hundred years or so, but it was the thought that counted! The table that held such sinfully tasty food was filled to the brim with every kind of breakfast food, and it all smelled so good. Without any restraint (probably because you were still kind of asleep) you grabbed a plate and started piling things on. When you finally sat down at the huge table Mr. Masters had prepared.

[color=transparent]A Vampire challenging me? Can it wait a da- HE'S WEARING WHAT?![/color]

Jazz had a much more humble arrangement, with a small plate of scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon and toast for herself. It looked nice,but it would have nothing on your sausage-potato-bacon-ham-egg and four cheese sandwich that had two waffles instead of bread. You just needed to give it a hearty dose of syrup and butter on the top to spice things up, and you would be golden.

[color=transparent]I'll be there in ten minutes. I'll be damned if I let a vampiric Bears fan exist on my land for any longer than absolutely necessary.[/color]

Well, you would have been if Mr. Masters didn't walk in right about then. He seemed pretty angry at something, but you could tell he was holding it back right now.

"I'm sorry, but I need to cut our time together short. Something has come up that I need to deal with." He looked both of you in the eyes, "Please refrain from blowing up the Castle until I'm back." You both nodded, and he clapped his hands together, "Good, I only ask that you both keep away from the mini-golf course. I can't have you two getting to that without me to trounce you! See you in about an hour!"

And then he was gone, leaving you both to you meals. About ten minutes later, you'd managed to polish off your monstrously amazing breakfast sandwich and Jazz finished cleaning off her plate.

The two of you wandered off into the Castle. Mister Masters had really shown the two of you some trust! No chaperone, and it seemed like there wasn't even much in the way of servants around. You and Jazz were basically free to go wherever you wanted. Except for the mini-golf course. You decided that you'd just go with the flow and follow Jazz. You were still pretty tired after a night of Ghostly Gorgonzola rejection. Rufus was too, the little guy snoozing away, dead to the world, in the cargo pocket of your pants.

She seemed to have some trouble thinking about which part of the Castle you should explore, before turning to you.

"Look, I know today is going to be a lot of fun. I think it'll be great. But before Mr Ma- my godfather comes back, we should probably get this talk out of the way." She snapped her finger as a light bulb went off in her head. "In fact, I know the perfect place for it!"

Was it the ghost talk? You [i]really[/i] didn't feel like having that after what you'd seen, and eaten, last night. You didn't feel like you were going to change her opinion and you were indisputably [i]right[/i] for a change, so you knew nothing she could say would alter the facts. She opened up a strange wooden door that seemed incredibly foreboding all considered. It was almost like she was trying to lead you into a horror movie! You went down a winding path of stairs that were thankfully lit by lightbulbs that didn't flicker once. Before that, she hung a left in the huge dungeon to a strange steel door that seemed totally out of place in this house.

Really, the horror movie vibes were only getting bigger here.

She came up to a keypad and put in a sequence of numbers, and the door unlocked with a certain loud beeping noise that didn't help your initial judgement of the place. Maybe the cheese ghost was right about Vlad? Shaking your head to clear away the doubts for what you knew would be a… [i]tiring[/i] conversation, you looked around the room to see a mess of gadgets and half completed ideas strew about the place. Chief among them, set in pride of place on a pedestal of its own was a circular metal installation about a foot tall, that you couldn't help but feel radiated bad vibes. The only thing that wasn't high-tech were a set of three beanbag chairs. One was green and gold, which you were sure was Mr Master's, and thus totally off-limits. Next to it was a pretty cool orange one with white ghost stickers that you were sure Jazz would treat like poison ivy. You thought they were pretty cool though, so you plopped down on it. The beans settled around you in a seriously soothing way, and you saw Jazz taking a greyish one decorated with the sort of things that Mr Dr P loves- artistic depictions of atoms, rockets, and molecules. When she was properly sunken into the chair, she looked you dead in the eyes.

"Look, Ron. I like you. Even though this is the first time we've met in person, I think you're a great friend and someone that I could really get along with. But, it's just…" Her hands crumpled into fists, "this ghost delusion has got to stop, Ron. It's something that I can tell is just making things worse, and I want to help you. You just need to let me in." Yeah, [i]this[/i] was going to suck. Well, you could only try to end this as quickly as possible.

"Look, Jazz. I understand where you're coming from. I get it, really. I've even got a super-smart redheaded friend who doesn't believe in stuff like this too. I live with her every day, Jazz. We can work past this. We've just got to agree to disagree. I believe in ghosts. You don't." You held out your hands. "Is that such a bad thing?"

Apparently it was, since she let out a frustrated growl as she shot up from the chair and moved as close up she could to look you right in the eyes before turning away from you, knuckles white. She seemed almost angry, but you thought you were being reasonable. This way you could each be yourselves! You were even allowing her to accept something that was patently wrong! She finally began to speak, and you could tell she trying to restrain herself from yelling.

"Look, Ron. I've lived my [b]ENTIRE LIFE[/b] dealing with my parents and their frankly ridiculous backwards attitudes. I've been told to keep my opinions about their toxic and self-destructive beliefs to myself CONSTANTLY. So yes, it [i]is[/i]] a bad thing. It's something that I can tell is just holding you back," she took a deep sigh "just like I can tell Kim is from your letters."

…

...What.

...Did… did she just? Wait, since when were you standing? And why was everything tinting yellow? With a deep breath in, you slowly tried to let go all of the anger. It was hard, but you did. Sadly, you could still feel the cold pit of cruel emotions in your stomach. No matter how much you wanted to do something better, to take the high road, you just couldn't. You looked back to Jazz, who seemed sad but determined.

"Look, do you really think ghosts would be the thing that destroys our friendship, Jazz? Or is it maybe because the way you keep trying to force your frankly [i]incorrect[/i] beliefs on me that'll do it?" She seemed almost taken aback by your words. "What proof do you have that [i]I'm[/i] the problem?" You pen pal stood there for a few seconds, gaping like a fish out of water before like a shock, she seemed totally calm again.

You'd really only seen that in the crazy or [i]really[/i] angry. You were pretty sure which one this was. She picked up one of Vlad's old items.

"You see this?" She shoved the metal-detector-looking thing in your face, "A ghost gun." She flicked on the trigger, smiling as it remained dim and dark. She carelessly tossed it to the side. "Useless junk and a waste of time."

She moved back to the table and picked up another piece of tech. "You see this?" She waved it around, "A ghost detector," another flick, and once again absolutely nothing happened. "A waste of metal and circuits that could be used for something of [i]actual worth[/i]."

Finally, she made her way to the giant ring thing in the center of the room. With an almost sardonic gesture, she pushed her hand into it and pushed a green button.

"Last, and certainly least as well as most disappointing and pointless, the prototype Ghost Portal! Oh, you see. This is the stupid thing that my Mom and Dad spent YEARS of their lives 'perfecting,' including making a second one when Danny and I were CHILDREN." She pressed the green button once more, almost violently this time. "A STUPID WASTE OF TIME THAT DOESN'T EVEN SPARK!"

Alright, normally, you might take this opportunity to calm things down. You're not the most confrontational guy, and you don't like fighting that much when it isn't necessary. But even past you own cool exterior, you couldn't help but feel a bit angry. Maybe you were being petty.

Frankly? You didn't care.

"Hey," Her eyes snapped to you, "It won't work if you don't plug the thing in." Jazz rolled her eyes before going to the nearest outlet and aggressively pushing the prongs into the socket. After a few seconds, there wasn't really anything happening, though for some reason you could swear the room got a bit colder. She put her hand through the inactive thing before turning to you with a smug look on her face.

"You see, a useless piece of s-"

And then a blast of green energy hit her in the back of the head, submerging her in it's toxic looking glow. You jumped around the stuff as fast as you could, your hand searching for the switch she'd been assaulting. With a snap, the thing powered off. You rushed over to Jazz's side, but she was already prone. You tried to pick her up, but she seemed to go almost completely transparent, and just… didn't catch your hands at all for some reason. It was almost like she was totally immaterial. Almost like a…

...No. It couldn't be… But then again if it was you had one way to help.

"DAIRY KING! IF YOU'RE HERE, I NEED SOME HELP!" From up above, the larger ghost floated down and looked at you, and then his eyes widened as he looked over to Jazz. He seemed almost paralyzed, before turning away.

"I'm going to get help! This is way out of my league, don't cha know?!" And like that, he vanished into the ceiling. You just looked over you friend, trying to figure out anyway possible to salvage this situation. She could be dead for all you knew, and it would have been your fault! A few minutes later, something dropped down right next to you. Turning around, you sa-

"EAT HOT LEAD, VAMPIRE SCUM!" Your pistol was already out before he could do anything. The guy just stood there as the bullets harmlessly passed through his body. Ghost Vampires?! No, you couldn't deal with this! But at least you'd go down fighting to protect a friend. You hoped Mister Masters would appreciate th-

And then the guy was engulfed by a bright black light and Mr Masters was standing there. He looked over to you, a face shuffling between concerned and enraged. Almost subconsciously, his hands seemed to turn red.

"What. Happened. To. My. God. Daughter!" You were kind of at a loss for words, though that was probably understandable given you felt you were about to be brutally murdered. Mustering up what response you could, you pointed towards that apparently very real, very [i]functional[/i] prototype ghost portal. He followed your gaze angrily, before noting the inserted plug. Once he saw that, it seemed the color drained from his face completely.

"I'm sorry, Mr Masters. This is my fault. We got into a really big argument and then… she tried turning the thing on to prove to me that ghosts weren't real." He turned towards you, using the weird black light thing to shift back into blood red eyes and elongated canines.

"As you may have guessed, they are. I imagine my niece is going to have a very similar revelation soon," He turned to you. "Normally, I'd decapitate you for this, but today is supposed to be a happy occasion, and frankly I see too much of myself in you to sentence you to death for what I imagine was an honest mistake on multiple levels."

Well, that was totally reassuring. Not. It didn't even do anything, and you could only just uselessly stand there. You didn't like that.

"Is there any way I can help her, Mr Masters?" He froze while attempting to pick up Jazz's limp body. "I don't want to just let her go through something so bad when I'm able to do something about it." He seemed stuck like that for a few seconds, before letting out a momentous sigh.

"The best thing you can do is help her adjust to this new world. It... won't be easy for her. It wouldn't be for anyone, but [i]especially[/i] her. If you could help me for the next few weekends, it would make things a lot easier for everyone. I'll move her to my new Middleton property if you do. If you can't commit, I'd just recommend staying out of this for now." Yeah that seemed simple enough, you guessed. He stood up.

"So, can I depend on you, Ronald Stoppable? If you feel the need to help, I'll be calling on you for five weeks of work when you could be doing other things. I'll understand if you cannot help, given your current situation. Disappointed perhaps, but I will not hold you in any ill will. However," his hands glowed a bloody shade of red, "the commitment will be final. Go back on your word, and I shall make your life most… unpleasant."

Well, what would you do?

[] I'll help you both, Mr Masters. [Lock in one free time action for five weeks to spend time helping Vlad Train Jazz in Halfa stuff]

[] I'd love to, but I can't. [Keep the actions free for the time, won't be able to interact with Jazz until she's out, though you will remain pen pals.]


	23. Week 10 pt 3- A Deal Jazz Can't Refuse

It was Sunday morning that you flew back to Middleton, once more in Vlad's private jet. It was a nice day considering the… eventful happenings the day before but even then there were still one or two points of concern.

Namely, that Jazz still hadn't woken up.

Sitting opposite from you was Mr Masters, who had elected that all three of you should touch down in Middleton at the same time. After all, he'd said, why waste the jet fuel and operational funds if you were going to end up in the same place?

Of course, you still had doubts.

"And you're sure this is okay, Mr. Masters?" You pointed to the metal box sitting to the side of you. "I mean, this looks a _lot_ like a kidnapping. You're sure that Jazz's mom and dad are OK with this?" Rufus was huddled in your pocket, trying his best to avoid the man's gaze while the two of you slowly picked at a cheese platter. Mr Masters speared a piece of white cheddar and popped it in his mouth before replying.

"They know enough. They understand something went wrong with one of our old inventions that shouldn't have happened, and that Jazz is going to be dealing with some things that I'll help her take care of. In recompense, I'll be giving her an internship along with the guarantee that she'll believe in ghosts by the end of it if they didn't interfere. They were suspicious until the last bit, when Jack seized the phone from Maddie and told me it was 'totally cool Vladdy!'" He gave a bitter laugh. "Just like I thought he would. Maddie grabbed the phone back and explained that she was happy I was giving Jasmine an opportunity with my corporation, especially since I said I was going to offer fair pay for Jasmine's time."

"You are?" You'd thought he was doing a favor to Jazz with all of this, especially since it _was_ kinda everyone's fault but his. He shrugged.

"Sometimes I like leading with the carrot rather than the stick. If it gets my niece where she needs to be with her powers, I think we'll all benefit. It's better than just upending her world for no reason and no compensation. I'd have to be a heartless manipulator with only my own agenda in mind to do something like that!" He laughed softly.

"But you do have an agenda, right?" You mean, he could be helping out of the goodness of his heart but you… weren't really sure everyone just _did_ that like you and Kim.

"Well, of course, Ronald!" He looked at you with a raised eyebrow, "Everyone has their own agenda! You want to make the world a safer place, Jasmine's parents want her to accept the truth of things, our mutual friend wants to entertain himself, and even your little friend Kimberly wants things to go her way. That doesn't change the fact that this is the best way to get Jasmine the help she needs."

He sat back in his seat and sighed. "I know all too well what it's like to go through what she is without a support network, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone I cared about. Maybe some of my enemies, but no one who's wellbeing actually mattered to me."

You were about to spear another piece of cheese for yourself when the sound of a slab of metal hitting the ground stopped you. Turning to the box Mr Masters had stuffed in, you saw Jazz groggily rising out of her unconscious state as she blearily stared at you two. A few seconds later, she seemed together enough to speak to you two.

"I… had the weirdest dream last night. It was like I was talking to you," She pointed at you, "and then we got really angry and I-" Vlad cut in.

"Turned on something you _really_ shouldn't have to prove a point?" You continued.

"Which, by the way, kinda only proved you wrong."

"After that, you passed in and out of consciousness for a while-" Jazz cut in.

"Yeah, I remember something I'd almost say was a vampire looking down a-"

"That was me, dear." Vlad shifted to his strange halfa (at least, that's what he called it) form and looked at her. Jazz nodded, obviously too freshly awake to totally process that, while looking between the two of you.

"Were we outside when this happened? No, it was a basement. Then why did I remember a really bright yellow light after all…" Your Mystical Monkey Power? But… you hadn't used that at all during or after your talk… right? Nah, she was probably just seeing things while going in and out of consciousness.

"WAIT!" And it looks like she just figured out what she'd dismissed as she turned to the shifted Mr Masters. "You're not human?!" He almost shrugged.

"Not at all. I am, in fact, a half ghost." Jazz's brows furrowed.

"But ghosts aren-"

"Real, Jasmine? I'd beg to differ. I've seen them. I've visited the place where most ghosts gather. And, most importantly, I have spent much of my life living as one." Jazz seemed too blown away by that to deny it right now.

"But, but. How? How did? When did? What?!" You sighed. She probably wasn't going to like where this was going.

"You see, Jazz. I see a lot of myself in you. Especially when you turned on the prototype ghost portal without a thought to your own safety. In fact, I'm seeing a lot more of me in you now, given we're both half-ghosts because of that." Her face drained of color.

"So that wasn't-"

"A dream? God no. You got into an argument with young Mr Stoppable here about the existence of ghosts, one which he was totally correct about and had solid proof regarding by the way, and in your unthinking anger you turned yourself into a half-ghost." He laid his hands out. "That's what happened. I had such a fun day planned for yesterday, too."

Jazz turned to you. "So, what was your proof of ghosts, then?" You looked over to Vlad and he shrugged. Well, honesty was probably the best policy here.

"I… kinda hunt monsters when I'm not in school or saving the world." Jazz's eyebrow shot up to the top of her forehead.

"Really? Like what, Werewolves?" You nodded.

"And Vampires. Changelings too if you'd believe it. Oh, and demons." Vlad nodded.

"All of those are in fact real, Jasmine. It's a dangerous world out there, and Ronald here is someone who wants to make it a little safer for everyone. It's quite admirable, if slightly naive." Hey! Naive was thinking you could take a Vampire by yourself! You were totally clued in to how the world worked! "Now, I don't particularly care much what you do so long as you remain safe, but I know a thing or two about managing your new… abilities."

"Like what?" You were kinda curious, even if Mr. Masters chuckled at your own , it wasn't like you got to see someone learn how to use their spanking new superpowers every day!

"Well, one of the first ones we'll be working on is controlling your ghostly form, and more importantly keeping yourself from phasing through things. Like the plane. There's a reason I put you in that pod to recover while you were out of it," He chuckled. "Landing in a field in Kansas was… an interesting day to be sure. One I'd like to keep you from repeating." You took that as your moment to chime in.

"Yeah, and I'm going to help you! It's why you're on this plane, after all. You're going to be staying in Middleton for a while so Mr. Masters trains you in ghosty stuff alongside me." She seemed conflicted. "Don't worry, your mom and dad are totally fine with it after being told this would convince you ghosts are real." She rolled her eyes at that.

"I still think there's a scientific explanation for all of this, I'll have you know." You shrugged. If she could find one out, great. You knew this stuff was real, and you'd stick with what you knew. Mr. Masters gave a small smile to her.

"Now, it's time for your first lesson," He motioned to the platter, "I'm assuming you must be hungry. Have some cheese." Jazz's brow furrowed, as she reached her hand out to the cheese and grabbed a piece. She moved it towards her mouth, only to have the thing fall as her hand turned totally transparent. She looked over to Mister Masters who simply pointed at the platter once more while Rufus took the opportunity to take the fallen food.

"Again." Yeah, this was going to be a long plane ride.

XxX

You ended up getting back into Middleton in the early afternoon. Mister Masters and Jazz took the same limo that'd dropped you off on Friday towards the direction of Mount Middleton, and you caught a cab. Mister Masters had given the taxi service his credit information, and forbade you paying. He'd said it was an apology for not letting you use the limo again. He wanted to make sure that Jazz was ensconced in her new temporary home as quickly as possible.

You had just enough time once you got home to get your stuff up to your room, grab your scooter, and get ready for your weekly club meeting. It was just you, your machine, and the open road. It was nice to just lose yourself after the stress factory the weekend had turned into.

Still, by the time you got to the school, you were the last one there. Seriously, were you the only one without a car?! In any case, you secured your ride and hightailed it to the classroom, which you found thoroughly populated. Everyone was talking, socializing, and generally looking like they were happy. Well, mostly. Mister B looked as humorless as ever, and Tara looked a bit frustrated with everything, but everybody else had a bit of a grin on their face. You guessed taking out another vampire had been good for morale.

"Sorry I'm late everybody," you said to the room, "The whole interstate trip went a bit wonky. I'm not sure yet, but we might be getting a new recruit out of it though?"

The room nodded at you, more or less as one, though Mister B just shook his head and sighed, before he motioned you to sit down. You did so, and he stood up at the front of the room.

"Alright, People," he said sternly, "Good work this week. We took out a nosferatu in its natural habitat with zero casualties." He gestured to Brick, "Flagg was the only one injured, and he's right as rain now." Brick nodded and grinned before shooting you a thumbs up.

"Now, I've prepared an after action report for everyone to go over, but I'm going to assign that as homework. There's room for improvement, but overall? You kids should be proud of yourselves."

He walked around the room, passing out your homework, and sat back down.

Things quieted down after that, and it looked like nobody wanted to go first. You could see Mankey and Tara having what looked like a minor argument about it, before Tara groaned and stood up. She walked to the front of the room and said baldly, "I got nothing," she shook her head and opened her hands, "I tried guys, but all I got for my trouble was a computer virus. It took down our family desktop and my parents are still asking what I was doing that made the computer crash like that."

She sighed, and looked down, "I'm really sorry guys." and headed back to her seat with her eyes downcast. Before you could say anything to reassure her though, Mankey cut in, "Hey, Tara," he said, "You did your best. Stuff happens. We just have to try again later and not let this discourage us right babe?"

Tara gave him a watery smile, and sat down, while Mankey headed to the front of the class. "So, I got some leads," he said confidently, "I cross referenced a lot of the information we already had, and did some research in the more reputable sites we have listed," he nodded to Vivian who smiled back, "I think I know how to handle a shapeshifter now, and even better, I think that with what Bonnie already worked out we've got info that if we want to we can track this guy down and stop him for good."

That got him some applause after Tara's disheartening news. Still, it wasn't her fault, like Mankey said, stuff happens. Heck, with what you learned this weekend you figured Mister Masters could get you whatever info you'd need on ghosts if you asked politely. He might make it a lesson for you and Jazz, but still, you'd have the info!

Capping things off for reports Vivian sat up in her seat. "OK guys, our demon problem is totally dealt with," she said confidently as she pointed a remote at the front of the room. The Projector screen descended and a video began playing on it. It was a news report about the fraternity of idiots who'd decided to go demon summoning. The Anchor was talking about how the entire building had vanished overnight. The last known photo of the building before it had disappeared had featured a tall, balding man with a thick brown beard. Huh, the composite sketch looked familiar, but there was no way that Rabbi Katz had any tattoos, let alone enough to make a biker gang jealous. Maybe he had an evil twin running around? With everything else you'd been learning lately you figured you were due for something like that.

"Yeah, so I just dropped a note to our governmental colleagues and they sent it on down the line to a member of the Knights of St Adrian. Big bunch of badass monster hunting bikers with anti-demon tattoos. Real tough guys. They sent one of their own in and voila, no more demon!"

Well, that was good to know. You'd had no idea that demons hated tattoos! Who knew?!

Before you could get around to formulating a plan for the next week, Mister B stepped back up to the front of the room. "Alright kids," he said, "this next bit is school related, so Dr Porter," he nodded to Vivian, "You can head out. We're all going to be a bit too busy for regular club business this week."

Vivian smiled back and head out with a grin and a wave.

Mister B banged his fist on his lectern, "This week is a very important week for you all. Career Week," groans went from every part of the room, "Now, I'm not going to tell you anything silly like 'this will define your future' or anything like that. I will tell you that you can make important connections this week, and learn valuable _useful_ things for any hunter to know. This _will_ be your focus this week. No research, no logistics, just learning. I've managed to get one or two old friends to come by to offer a few pointers." He turned to look at you, "Stoppable's already made some connections, and at the behest of Senor Senior Senior I've added a few of them to the list of options. Be careful with those ones. The last group is one or two possibilities that I thought might appeal to club members. It's first come first served, so pick who you think would suit you best."

Time to make some choices Ron, what'll it be?

 **Decision Point - Career Day!**

 **Pick your mentor for the week!**

 **Mister Barkin's Options**

[] Mr. Barkin told you he'd be willing to mentor you if you didn't mind spending a bit more time than usual with him. He'd said it'd be just like going through boot camp, though you weren't sure whether that was a good thing or not...- Profession: Hunter (Soldier)

[] Captain Black was the man you'd heard Mr. B talking about most when the subject of career day came up. He was the leader of the group known as Section 13 and one of your teacher's closer friends. The letter he wrote said he teach whomever it was about how things worked in a more formal organization.- Profession: Investigator (Cop)

 **Senor Senior Senior's Options**

[] Shego put her hat into the ring. Not really because she was bored or wanted to per se, but more or less because she didn't want to deal with paperwork most of the school's staff got blitzed with when this week rolled around. If she was busy, they couldn't do that to her.- Supervillainess (Criminal)

[] Mr Masters was in town now, and you were sure you could swing spending your career days with him if you really wanted to. He said he'd be able to talk to you about his work in recording and attempting to quantify the Supernatural on a more scientific level.- Researcher (Scientist)

[] Valmont has apparently been prodded into throwing his own time for a week to help deal with training one of the people who'd become his troubleshooters. He says he's spent more time in the know than out of it, so he probably understands quite a few things about the world we live in.- 'Legitimate' businessman (Occultist)

[] SSS of course said he'd be more than willing to put in some time himself if you were willing to give it. He talked about studying both human interactions and the finer points of an evil laugh. That, and how to make sure one had a suitably charming way about them.- TV Personality (Socialite)

[] Jack Hench grudgingly put his own hat into the ring when Valmont did. He said they'd only be for the hunters- he was a busy man after all and had a lot of things to do. However, if you chose him he said he'd reveal stuff about Henchco and how he ran things.- Megacorp Head (Professional)

 **The Grab Bag**

[] Rabbi Katz, strangely enough, said he'd be willing to talk to some of you guys about Hunting. You were sure he was talking about _Hunting_ Hunting which was kind of strange but you were sure giving him a chance would be pretty cool. He was always nice.- Rabbi (Religious figure)

[] Dr. Drakken, oddly enough, said that he'd be willing to tutor a young child in the arts of Villainy and the creation of doomsday devices. Yeah, it's DR DRAKKEN but then again he seemed surprisingly sincere about all of this, so maybe there was some merit to stop by and check out how he was going?- MAD SCIENTIST (Technician)

[] Funnily enough, Jack Fenton seemed to have gotten wind of your career day, and since Jazz's friend was such a firm believer in ghosts, he'd be more than willing to drive the Fenton Family Ghost Attack Vehicle down to help educate you about the proper creation of ghost-related technology.- Inventor (Engineer)


	24. Week 11 pt 1 Last Dawn

Mr. Barkin handed out a list for everyone to look over. There were the names of every possible mentor he'd evaluated as Club Appropriate on there, along with a small box for your signatures on the right. Everyone passed it around, allowing the whole club to get a good look at their options. You checked over the list when it was handed to you. There was the implicit agreement that no one would sign off until you'd all seen it, but Bonnie's signature scrawled in right next to Captain Black's name and profession was enough to tell you how much she respected that idea.

With one less, you thought about who you'd have to go with now. You'd kinda banked on him being available since Mr. B seemed so sure he'd be good for you. Ah, well. You checked the list once more in your head before repeating the cycle by passing it to Mankey, and went through it by crossing off the people you DIDN'T want to mentor under.

Señor Senior Senior was cool, but you were pretty sure you didn't want to go into business full time. Or wrestling, for that matter. Yeah, Lucha Libre was awesome, but hunting monsters in between saving the world was a much more fulfilling pastime, thank you very much. You also kinda wanted something that'd help broaden your horizons a little bit, but still be immediately useful.

Jack Hench was right out. It's not that you didn't trust the guy to hold to his word… you were just sure he'd make sure you saw absolutely nothing illegal in his company and then try to drown you in paperwork.

You were basically going to help someone else be mentored under Vlad, so doubling up his workload just seemed wrong. You didn't want to pile anything else onto the poor guy, especially when he was basically helping clean up your screw up.

Valmont was… interesting. You thought about him for a while. He seemed like an alright guy, but ultimately you weren't sure. He [i]kinda[/i] seemed like he wasn't really the type to want someone just following him around all day, and you didn't want to mess with the Company if you didn't have to outside of monster stuff. More homework was the opposite of badical.

Rabbi Katz was cool… but you weren't really even sure why he was there. Maybe Mister B thought that you guys needed spiritual guidance or someone to talk to? Rabbi Katz did give super awesome advice… But then again you'd already got his special speech mojo twice, once at your Bar Mitzvah, and then again in beautiful Las Vegas! You thought you'd be good.

Dr Drakken was… yeah, no. Just. No.

Mr. Fenton sounded cool even if you had no idea how he'd ended up at something like this multiple states away from where he lived, but you knew he'd ask some uncomfortable questions about Jazz that you didn't particularly feel like answering. That was that, then.

As the list came back to you, the only ones left for you to pick from were Mr B and Shego. Mr. B was pretty cool, and you were sure he wanted to get out of the extra career week paperwork just as much as you assumed Shego did. It would be nice to have some bonding time with him, though the thought of one on one boot-camp still kinda scared you. You barely survived team training! Shego was ...well... [i]Shego[/i] though! And you were weren't sure about the idea of learning how to be a Supervillain when said Supervillain was mad at you for the last time you trained under her.

You sighed. There was nothing for it. You turned to Mister B, "Ok Mister B," you said, "I'm torn, so I'm gonna flip a coin. Call it in the air, if you do you get to whip me into shape."

You reached into your pocket, pulled out a quarter, and balanced the thing on your thumb. Flicking it into the air, you head Mr. Barkin quietly muttering "tails never fails" under his breath over and over while the coin spun in the air and he crossed his fingers and shut his eyes. As the quarter landed in your palm, you looked down to see the results.

"... Hea-"

"GOSH DARN IT!" Well, looked like Mr. Barkin wasn't pleased to be stuck managing papers. You were pretty sure no one else would willingly sign up to mentor under a sub unless they knew what you did about him. With a small, flourish you signed yourself in next to Shego's name and looked over the others.

Tara had gone for Jack Fenton. She was probably still kinda bummed about the ghost thing. Maybe you should go talk to her about that? You nodded to yourself. Yeah, you were due for a talk with her anyway. It'd be good to catch up and see how she was doing.

Brick had gone for Señor Senior Senior, which was awesome! You were sure the two of them would get along pretty well, and you could totally see your male hunter buddy getting into Lucha! Ooh maybe you could get Señor Senior Senior to host a guy's wrestling night? That'd be awesome!

And Josh went for Rabbi Katz. Yeah, that sounded like something he'd do. They were both pretty chill, even if he didn't know the m-

Wait.

"Josh, are you Jewish too?" The calm guy shrugged at the stares of the rest of the club members.

"Yeah?" he looked at you quizzically, "Dude, we were in the same Bar Mitzvah class. My parsha was like three chapters after yours." Huh, you really hadn't noticed. Tara quirked her eyebrow at the both of you.

"...But both of you love cheeseburgers? I thought that was totally banned!" You looked over to him, and looked back at Tara. Almost at the same time, you both opened your mouths.

"But that rule is lame." Yeah, he understood it. You couldn't just [i]choose[/i] to live without nacos! She seemed almost floored by your own synchronization at that, and a little red in the face for some reason, and it was then that your stomach chose to rebel against you!

"Well, looks like it's about time for this meeting to end. I've got to get dinner." Wait, you needed to tell Mr B what you needed him to prep for. "Mr B! Can you start up a bunch of stuff so we can have a strategy meeting about hunting down Gil sometime next week. Heck, maybe saying you're swamped with club stuff will get you out of some of the setup work for Career day!" He gave a small sigh before throwing you a weak thumbs up for your own attempt to mitigate what you knew would [i]not[/i] be a pleasant job. It was the best you could do.

XxX

Monday came around with the blare of an air-horn sounded off in your ear. Your hand shot to the pistol you'd hidden in the space right under your mattress. As you felt nothing but more bed, the little bunk you had was flipped over. Standing above you with plasma in her hands was Shego, deviously smirking at your prone form.

She'd taken your gun?! That was totally not cool! Still, you'd been ready for that. It was one of the lessons she'd drilled into you after all. With a quick roll you reached to the second pistol taped behind your dresser and fired off a round at the enemy in front of you. You'd missed, but at least Shego would never be able to use that airhorn again.

The sound of pounding footsteps was enough to snap you both out of your reverie. With a smashing noise, the door to your room flew open as your dad ran in with a large abacus ready to deal with the intruder. He heaved laborious breaths as he looked at the scene before him. Shego's plasma quickly faded, and she looked your dad straight in the sleep-deprived eye.

"What-huff- is the meaning of this?" your father continued to brandish the improvised weapon, before looking to the pistol in your hand. While he did that, Shego's normal demeanor melted into an almost sickly sweet mockery.

"Why, I'm Ms. Smith, Ron's new English teacher. He chose me as his mentor for career day, and I figured I should do my best to make sure he gets an impressive and [i]comprehensive[/i] education, considering his other occupation." You knew she meant hunting, at least you thought she did, but it was vague enough to fit for working with Kim. Dad didn't seem to buy it though, given he continued holding the giant counting tool up.

"Well then what was the glowy hands thing about? Some sort of parlor trick?" She simply smiled and nodded before pointing to a glove of hers that she'd taken off.

"These things give off a really cool green glow! I thought it'd be kinda scary since I look a lot like that really famous Supervillain Shego! It was a kind of test," She looked over to the blasted spraycan, "one that he passed with flying colors." Ok, you knew that look, that was the 'I'm keeping calm right now but one wrong move and I will disembowel you, possibly literally.' Kim got that way when you started talking Smarty Mart up a bit too much. Dad looked almost confused, before looking up at the giant number-cruncher he'd been carrying and putting it down on the ground with a sigh of relief. After that, he looked to you.

"Son, when did you learn to use a firearm? Moreover, why is there a pistol in my house without my knowledge?" Yeaaaaah, though you knew dad was getting into parent mode but you didn't really feel like telling him the truth about the five other guns you'd hidden in the house. It would be totally bad for his heart when he was breathing so heavily already.

...Yeah, that was totally it.

"Uhh, since about a month ago…" You could see the gears turning in his head even as the exasperation in his features settled even further. He gave out a heavy sigh.

"And when were you planning on informing your mother or I about this?" You looked to the gun, then back to him, then back to the mental map of the house where the other guns were stored, and then back to him. You gave what you knew was a wimpy smile.

"... I think, um, [i]this[/i] is my way of telling you? Sorry?" Dad looked back to the pistol, and then to the busted airhorn on the ground, before looking back up at you.

"Just… please be sure not to fire them off at five in the morning. Your mother and I have a trip to Paris to plan this week after all. After that, the packing." Oh, right. They were going to do that. It was kinda a bummer that you'd had to bow out this time. Sure, the yearly winter break trip was almost tradition but you had people you wanted to hang out with this year! Well, other than just Kim. Dad seemed almost proud when you told him you couldn't go last week!

As he walked out of the room, Shego's facade slowly slipped as the door closed again. With a baleful look, you slowly got to your feet. She forcefully pointed at the window, and you already knew what to do. With a sad sigh, you opened the thing and jumped onto the roof above the porch. Lying on top of it was a hovercraft-likely Drakken's payment for a mission well done in the past. You slowly ambled into the passenger side and buckled in while Shego dropped into the driver's seat. A few seconds later, the craft blasted forward at a high speed before jerking to a stop. As you gasped for the wind that had been so unceremoniously knocked out of you, Shego finally deigned to speak.

"You are very, [i]very[/i] lucky that I'm slightly impressed at your performance back there in the bedroom," She was almost growling her words out right now, "This would be the second time you've done such and walked away alive. Normally, there would be consequences."

Well, crap. You knew what that meant. She was going to make this suck, wasn't she? Well, no better way to get this done then to just, you know, get it done.

"Pleeeease don't kill me…" you said, down on your knees and holding up your hands in supplication. Shego rolled her eyes at your melodramatic display.

"Puh-leez, Sidekick. If I wanted you dead, you'd die. End of story. No, you just lost rights to complain about what I want you to do. You were going to have a choice in the matter, but you just burned those bridges." Ah well, it could be worse.

"Sooooo… where are we going then?" She put on a pair of sunglasses.

"Puerto Rico." Well, this was probably going to be… interesting?

XxX

An hour later, and you were busy casing a laboratory with Shego. You helped her observe the building, looking for obvious weak spots. She used this learning opportunity to inform you about spotting sections where the defenses were less concentrated, and what areas would make for good entry points. Three hours later, and you found yourself running past scientists in a tight corridor holding a bag of some heavy stuff as the guards tried to stop you. None of them used guns, which was great because you did [i]not[/i] want to test your Henchco suit's durability when you were going for international theft.

A few minutes later, and you found yourself back in the hovercraft, with Shego giving the most condescending slow clap possible from the driver's seat.

"Wow, you made some pretty good time there, rookie. Now, maybe next time you should make sure to check for an alarm before trying to take the thing." Okay, yeah. Maybe that wasn't exactly the smartest oversight to make, but you got in and out without much trouble! Still, you'd make sure to keep that in mind tomorrow.

Your phone buzzed as the two of you continued on through the air. You picked up the thing- it had always gotten great reception once Vivian upgraded it, along with everyone else's, a few weeks back. Opening the thing, you pressed the thing to your ear.

" _Is this Ronald Stoppable?_ " Señor Senior Senior's voice came out clearly from the other side of the receiver.

"Yeah, this is me. Did you need something? Only, I'm kinda busy right now…"

" _Oh! I do apologize. I had forgotten that you were participating in a mentor program this weekend. I will say that it has been very delightful to talk with your Mr. Flagg. He is a most polite young man, and I am glad he is your friend. In fact, he has told me that you received your driver's license this past week. I would like you to congratulate you for this achievement!_ " Well, that was ni-

" _In fact, considering your position in our corporation I believe I may provide a small piece of assistance, since LORE has made its first major contract! I have deposited the sum of one hundred thousand dollars linked to a dummy checking account in your name at the Middleton Bank and Trust. A debit card for it will be in the mailbox when you get home. Since you do not own a vehicle of your own, I thought you might use this windfall to acquire one._ " ...Wow. You didn't really understand how they could make that much money on one deal, but right now you could tell that the amount was probably at least part of what Señor Senior Senior had received too.

"Aww, you don't have to do that much for me, Señor." You could hear a genuine laugh from the other side of the phone.

" _Do not worry, Ronald. I have more than enough money. Paying your cut of our deal with a group of Hunters known as the Ashwood Abbey was the least I could do. Besides, you are an integral part of a multinational corporation now! It would behoove you to look the part if you will be working with us. Jack and Valmont would expect nothing less. Have a pleasant day, Ronald._ " Well… that was something. Huh, you'd probably have to look into these Abbey guys if you were going to be working with the company. Beside you Shego was looking on with a slight bit of interest in her eyes.

"Anything interesting in that call, Sidekick?" Okay, yeah, you were sure she was just being nosy. But then again, no one could deny she had taste…

"Some stuff. Now, I'm wondering- if you could get any car what would you go for?" She thought about it for a few seconds, before responding.

"The one thing I'd say is important is speed. Looks are secondary, though they're nice. Reliability's a valid concern, but it isn't that useful against gunfire or your number one priority in police chases. If you want, I could take you to a friend who could get you one with no questions asked. It's the least I could do if you're deciding to display good taste." Well, that sounded pretty good. And you were sure if Shego knew them, then they wouldn't just screw you over. Any car dealer would probably tread lightly around her.

"That sounds nice. Thanks." Shego shrugged.

"Don't mention it. Seriously. Don't. The guy I'm bringing you to isn't exactly above board." Ehh, you were part of a shady company that dealt with monster stuff. You wouldn't judge.

XxX

You made it back to Middleton around about early evening. On the ride back, Shego had given you the rundown of what to expect this week. Today was going to set the tone. Every day she was going to set you on a different facility and see how well you could infiltrate it and escape with a target. You weren't... completely sure about this. It was one thing to steal from an oppressive monopoly, and another to try and take things from research facilities. When you raised that with Shego she just smirked, "You picked the supervillain for a mentor Sidekick, you get what you asked for." She rolled her eyes, "If it worries you so much then just make some anonymous donations when you have the time or cash. It's not like you'll be taking anything [i]really[/i] important."

You shrugged at that, it was all you could do. Still, if this was going to be taking up that much of your time this week, then you'd need to plan a bit more solidly than usual. The only really important thing you needed to do was check in with Tara at some point. She'd seemed really bummed at the Club meeting this week, and you hadn't talked with her in weeks! You still didn't know how the whole dating Mankey thing had happened, or how she was holding up. Sure, the guy seemed pretty chill, and most people liked him, but Mankey was only one letter away from Monkey!

After checking over your homework, you texted Tara.

 _Ron: "Hey Tara, is there a good time for us to hang out and touch base this week?"_

It took her some time to reply, but she did eventually! She must have been finishing her own homework or something.

 _Tara: hey Ron,_

 _Uh, yeah, I think so, I'm not one hundred percent on what Mister Fenton's plans are, he's pretty... high energy, but we can probably hang out on Wednesday?_

That made sense. From what you'd heard from Mister Masters and Jazz Mister Fenton was... excitable. Waiting a bit for things to settle was probably a good idea.

 _Ron: Badical! I'll look forward to it then!_

XxX

As you ran through the Chinese countryside, you had to wonder what set the alarms off this time. You were sure you'd checked when you grabbed the unmarked metal container. Maybe there'd been a pressure sensor or an infrared laser grid you hadn't known about? You'd been sure you'd gotten everything! Shego waited for you to arrive in the hovercraft, filing her nails away even as you slammed on the seatbelt and looked at her quite desperately. She rolled her eyes as the machine picked up and shot away. When she was sure you were both in the clear, she turned to you.

"Always make sure you get ALL of the guys working the security cameras." You raised your hand but she cut you off. "Yes, that means checking both sets of bathrooms too. Better embarrassed than dead"

… Dang it. You'd do better tomorrow, but you had other priorities right now. You were going to go buy a car!

XxX

Shego lived up to her promise about the car stuff. Of course, you didn't expect her contact to be in [i]Russia[/i] of all places but knowing people seemed to be half the battle with villainy. Or that's what she said when you asked. You were pretty sure you were in Moscow, though definitely one of the less than reputable parts. After a few minutes of flying in an area you were pretty glad you had your gun around for, Shego finally parked on top of a small helipad on top of a dull grey building. It looked out of place, and when you checked the ground below you saw a single man with a shotgun standing in a corner. He was probably a guard. You walked over to the secure-looking door, where Shego was waiting impatiently. When you got there, she looked you over before dusting you off.

"Okay, Sidekick? Don't you dare screw this up for me, capice? Nico is a friend of mine, and one who's done favors for me in the past. The last thing I want to do is embarrass myself in front of a friend."

"You have frie-" OWWW! Okay, you totally deserved that but it was kinda worth it. For some reason annoying her was becoming fun. Well, either that or your survival instinct decided it was opposite day. While you caught your breath, your mentor had moved up to the door and began speaking to someone on the other side of it. After a few seconds of talking in a language you guessed was probably Russian and a few wild gestures, the door opened. Shego slipped the guy a twenty before proceeding further into the building. You followed her in, nodding at the large, somber looking guy as you passed him. You continued down into a garage filled with cars and motorcycles of every type imaginable. To the side was a man speaking to someone on a phone. Luckily, it was english-even if you could barely tell behind the thick accent.

"Yes, cousin. When I visit New York next month, I'll be sure to go bowl-. I've got a customer. I'll talk to you later," He snapped the phone shut with a swear before smiling at the two of you. "Ahh, Shego! I see you have brought me a new friend. Are you here to purchase or sell this time?" Shego nodded at the man with a smile on her face.

"I'm here because my little apprentice here wanted my advice on which car to get. I figured he had money to blow, so I'd take him to the best." The guy, Nico, turned to you.

"Well, I would have to ask. What are you looking for right now?" You scratched the back of your head a bit nervously.

"Well, Shego said that if I was going to get anything, I should go for speed. I thought that made sense, given my job…" He nodded.

"Of course, of course. Now, I have some very… fast cars for most affordable prices. Follow me." He proceeded to lead you through the place, moving from luxury and sports cars that were surprisingly affordable. Of course, most were [i]still[/i] out of your price range, but you could tell they were all pretty well priced for things you were ninety percent sure were stolen. Not that you'd ever say that thought out loud. Shego would probably break your kneecaps for this guy, if you were that dumb. Finally, you made your way to the far side of the room. The place was less populated than everywhere else, but the cars were also much more affordable. He gestured around the place, before looking back at you.

"These cars are the fastest in the place. They are also much less expensive, given they have received a large number of… [i]unique[/i] modifications. How much money do you have to spend?"

You pulled out the small golden card that you'd taken out of the mailbox last night. It was linked to the account for a bank you'd never heard of, but you were sure it was what Senor Senior Senior said it was.

"I have 100,000 dollars max. I've seen the signs you put up, I think I should be able to get something pretty nice." He nodded, before leading you around the area. Each of the cars were pretty cool in their own rights, but you weren't really sure what to get. There was a pretty cool blue mustang that you liked the look of, and a very cool red Jaguar. After around an hour of looking and sales pitches, you found yourself no further. When his phone went off again, he simply shrugged as he picked up the phone.

"This is all the I have for your preference. If you don't mind, I will give you time to think once I finish talking to my Cousin." He walked away right then, leaving you alone here with Shego. She seemed detached enough, motioning for you to go on as she filed away at her nails. You took the opportunity to wander, looking through a bunch of the faster cars again before straying out through the place. After about ten minutes you came upon a collection of bikes that were pretty cheap compared to everything else. Sadly, you didn't really know their capabilities, so you weren't sure about whether or not you should really check them out more. No matter how cool they looked...

As you turned around to go back to the group, one of the bikes caught your eyes. Taking a moment to find it again, you saw a black and gold beauty of a machine that outshone all the others. As you got closer, you could see a bit of golden lettering on the chassis. It spelled [i]Last Dawn[/i] in some pretty badical script. It was one of the coolest things you'd ever seen, but as you looked around you couldn't find anything stating a price. Darn. It was probably one of the guy's personal rides, given how awesome anyone would look riding that.

"Ahh, checking out the Dawn are we?" The man almost scared you with how quiet he was. He looked over you. "It is said to be one of the faster vehicles here, though I wouldn't know. The thing has been here since I purchased the lot from a friend." Really? That made the thing even cooler! Mysterious origins were always awesome.

"How much do you want for it?" He cupped his chin, looking around.

"Well, it has been here so long that I would not have thought of selling it under normal circumstances," He looked you over once more, "However, any friend of Shego's is a friend of mine. If you are her apprentice, then you will need the best of the best. I would be willing to part with it for a nice sum. Say… seventy seven thousand dollars." Wow, that was pretty expensive compared to everything else! However, it was probably the sweetest ride here. You [i]had[/i] to get it.

"Done." He smiled.

"Good, it is a pleasure doing business with you… ah, I did not get your name." You held out your hand.

"Ronald Stoppable, sir." He took it and gave your arm a strong shake.

"I hope to see you again sometime, then. Now, it is time to make the payment. Let me get the key and the proper forms for you to fill out to make sure no one raises any… unpleasant questions about this." Yup, paperwork was always something you'd need to get through, no matter what universe you lived in. Still, it was pretty awesome. You had a badical bike now! Nothing could be cooler than that!

"Decided on a bike, Sidekick? You do know you need a separate license to ride one of those." Drat. Well, that sucked. You really didn't want to cancel the transaction though, since you did kinda [i]really[/i] want the thing. It would take too long to get a specialty license anyway.

Legally, at least. Heck, maybe it was because Shego was here or because you knew Senor Senior Senior would agree to it, but you pulled out your phone. After you dialed it in, the older Supervillain picked up on the second ring.

" _Ah, Ronald. I am just sharing a break with Mr. Flagg. How is everything going with Ms. Shego?_ "

"It's going great Señor Senior Senior! I've been having an… [i]exciting[/i] time helping her with her work. She actually took me to meet a friend of hers about getting a car. Well, getting a bike."

" _That is a most generous of her, Ronald. I hope you enjoy the vehicle. Though they are not my preference, Junior seems to enjoy them._ " Well, no way would work better than being direct.

"That's pretty cool. However, I was just told that I would need a separate license to use it. I was wondering if you could help me get one. I'd be willing to use the rest of th-"

" _Nonsense, Ronald. It is the least I could do. It will not even be that hard, either. Junior has a friend in Japan who loves this little hobby and did not have a license when he visited America. I will simply use the same contacts that I did for him._ " Well, that was easy.

"Thanks, Señor Senior Senior!" He chuckled.

" _Anytime, Ronald. Now, it is time to get back to training with Mr. Flagg here. His mask has finally been fitted and now it is time to instruct him on it's purpose._ " Ooh, that sounded pretty awesome! Maybe you'd be able to see Brick in a lucha match soon?

The dealer returned with all the proper paperwork, and you spent the next few hours filling it out once he took your card to complete the payment. When everything was said and done, you found yourself wheeling the bike into Shego's hovercraft before you shot back to Middleton. Today was a good day, and you had a feeling tomorrow would be even better.

XxX

You'd been wrong! Why had you been so wrong!? This was [i]not[/i] better! Running through the facility in South Africa was tiring enough, but doing so while guards were actually [i]shooting[/i] live rounds at you was so not fun. Sure, you'd probably have to deal with worse things eventually, but you didn't think you [i]wanted[/i] to get used to this kind of thing! You just hoped the small metal vial you were carrying was worth whatever Shego was getting paid for it.

As you crashed into the hovercraft's passenger seat Shego flew it away. "Never," she said, "and I mean NEVER, assume your tech is perfect. You really didn't need to go fancy assisted hacker to crack the passwords to go in. It could have been as simple as going through lower security desks and offices. There's always some moron who keeps a list of his passwords on paper."

Huh, maybe the whole human element was a lot more vulnerable than you'd thought. You guessed 'keep it simple stupid' worked for more than just homework.

Still, maybe this was as bad as it would get?

XxX

You got back to middleton in the late afternoon, at half past 4. It was honestly kind of ridiculous how fast the hovercraft could cover ground. You'd been in private jets that weren't half as fast as that thing. Drakken should just market that and he'd be set for life!

Regardless of how it managed it, you were just glad you'd gotten back in plenty of time to meet up with Tara. You'd texted her and she'd agreed to meet you for an early dinner at the Nasty Burger. You still weren't one hundred percent behind that place, but you guessed you could respect truth in advertising.

When you pulled in on your scooter you saw that Tara's car was already there. You guessed she was jonesing for some fried food or something if she got here early. You walked into the restaurant, took a quick look around the dining room, spotted Tara, and headed over to her. She was fiddling with something that looked high tech and had glowing green energy lines all over it.

"Hey Tara!" you cried, "How are you?"

She kept fiddling with the thingy, but looked up after a moment and replied, "Oh, hi Ron," she shook herself, "Sorry I'm distracted, Mister Fenton gave me one of his Fenton Paranormal Ghost Trackers and I'm trying to figure out how to work it properly."

"Something wrong with it Tara?" It looked kinda complicated, but also sorta like some of the stuff Mister Masters had and that all worked...

"Kinda? Mister Fenton said it's supposed to pick up anomalous background energy or something, but about five minutes ago it started wigging out so I had to turn it off. I'm going over the connections to make sure everything's secure inside."

"Sounds like you're learning a lot from the guy." That was... probably a good thing? His foundations were accurate, heck, Mister Masters built from the same stuff! That meant his first principles had to be right...right?

"He [i]does[/i] like to blather on about ghosts! I've been learning a lot about them," she shuddered briefly, "It's honestly a little creepy how excited he gets about ripping them apart molecule by molecule" She blinked and looked at you. "Actually, I had a question. Did you know that his daughter's in town working on Ghost stuff with Mister Masters? She was your pen-pal right?"

"Yup, that visit with her was actually what made Mister Masters decide to relocate here. He thought this would be a good environment for his," you looked from side to side to make sure no one was listening before whispering, "project!"

Tara blinked at you, nonplussed for a moment. "Ok, but, like, what's her deal? Mister Fenton was kinda unclear, is she joining the club or something?"

You paused at that. You weren't actually sure [i]what[/i] Jazz's plans were once Mister Masters got her up past the uncontrollable power stage.

"I dunno," you shrugged, "I figure she'll decide that when she's done with her internship. She actually full on got time off from school for it, so it's a pretty heavy duty deal."

Neither of you said anything for a moment after that, and the silence stretched on before you coughed awkwardly. "So, uh, hey, Tare," you started, "I wanted to check and see if you were doing OK with things. We hadn't talked in ages, and I wanted to touch base."

Tara blinked for a minute before responding, "I was pretty bummed about the virus yeah, but I'm learning a lot from Mister Fenton. I should have enough ghost information that with what you're probably going to get from Mister Masters the club'll be set."

"That's great Tare! I wasn't asking for the club though! You're my friend, and I wanted to make sure you were doing OK! This whole Club thing is pretty high stress, and well..." You weren't sure how to broach the Mankey subject. Better just bite the bullet!

"Soooooo, you and Mankey? That's pretty nice."

"Uh, yeah," Tara replied, "Josh is great." She paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "He's a really great guy. I feel like he cares about me, y'know? A lot of guys just want to date a cheerleader for the status, or because we're pretty, but Josh isn't one of those."

"That, uh, that's great to hear Tara. I haven't spent much time with Mankey, but I will admit that his last name tripped some flags for me. Deep seated Monkey traumas aren't logical y'know! Still, it's good to hear that he's treating you right."

"Oh Ron," Tara giggled, "You don't have anything to worry about. Josh has been a perfect gentlemen."

"Good," you nodded firmly, "I wasn't like a hundred percent on things, but you've seen way happier since you started dating. I'm glad it's for good reasons."

"Yeah, he really helped pull me out of a bit of a slump. Nothing club related, I was just kinda depressed for a bit there."

"Jeez Tara, I'm sorry. I should have done something, said something. You're my friend, if you were feeling that bad I should have helped!" You sighed, "I've just been crazy busy with Kim Missions, Club stuff and schoolwork, and not being a social pariah. Things have been nuts!"

"Don't worry about it Ron," Taral looked at you with a hint of something sad deep in her eyes, "Everything's cool, and we're talking now so it's OK."

"Alright Tara, if you say so. But seriously, if you're feeling down like that again, let me know, we can hang out or do something to get your mind off it! It makes me happy to see my friends happy!"

"You got it Ron. You got it."

XxX

You know?

You decided that you hated dogs from today on. Nasty little beasts with sharp teeth and angry little faces. Sure, the Chilean terrain was rough, but you'd totally be able to deal with that if you had enough time to adjust. It wasn't like this was your first mission in South America! It wouldn't even have been that bad if you weren't bleeding from the leg and firing your pistol wildly at the vicious little things.

Finally evading the evil nasty canines, you slammed into the Hovercraft's cockpit, throwing the two large sacks to the back of the thing while Shego lifted off. You had to kick one last dog unceremoniously to the ground while you looked over to the supervillaness for your mistake this time. She smirked.

"Never just assume the Steak trick works, Sidekick."

Darn it!

XxX

It was earlier than usual when you got back to Middleton. Apparently, trans-continental hovercraft trips are faster when you don't also have to cross oceans. Who knew?! When Shego dropped you off at your house she was smirking as she waved goodbye. You weren't sure why, until you headed into the garage. Your bike was here! Sitting there, gleaming in the fading light of the afternoon, was Last Dawn. You had no idea how Nico had gotten it from Russia to Middle America in less than forty eight hours, but you weren't going to ask questions! You were just happy to have your bike!

As you sat there admiring it, and maybe wondering a little what your parents were thinking about this, your phone buzzed. Someone was texting you! From an unknown number?

 _Mankey: Hey Ron, this is Josh._

How'd he get your number?!

 _Mankey: Mister Barkin gave me your number when I joined the club, just in case._

...you guessed that made sense

 _Ron: What's up Mankey?_

 _Mankey: Ron, are you in town right now? You got a minute to talk?_

Well, he may have been a creepy monkey sounding named dude, but he was part of the club. You didn't have anything super pressing... And it'd give you a chance to try out your new ride!

 _Ron: Sure dude, I can be at the park in 10 minutes that cool?_

 _Mankey: That's great Ron, I'll see you there._

You rubbed your hands together in glee. Your very first time riding Last Dawn down the mean streets of Middleton! THIS WAS GONNA BE BADICAL

XxX

For once, you were right! You were gloriously right! As the last of the setting sun's golden rays shone down on you and your machine, it was like there was nothing but it, you and the road. You'd felt this before with your trusty scooter, but here, now? It was on a whole other level! You felt like you had achieved oneness with the universe! This was beyond badical. You didn't have a word for what this was!

Before too long though, it had to end. You reached the park, set your bike, locked it up solidly, and headed off to look for Mankey. It didn't take too long to find him, he was at the same band shell that you'd seen him and Kim at during that date during the whole Embarrassment Ninja debacle. He was standing in the shadow of the shell as the sun finished going down, hands in his pockets and looking for all the world like there was nowhere he'd rather be. You seriously had no idea how he was always so chill!

He saw you and called out, "Hey Ron! Thanks for coming."

"Sure, man, you needed to talk I'm there. You're on the team!"

He nodded, "Thanks Ron, I appreciate that. Still cool of you to come over on short notice." He turned from you to look around the stage, nodding his head for a moment in thought.

"Dude, I'm gonna be upfront here, because I think that's the best way to deal with this." OK now you were worried. Nothing good ever comes from starting like that.

"You know Tara likes you right?"

"Ah... duh? We're friends, of course she likes me." Mankey rolled his eyes at you.

"Don't be deliberately obtuse dude, she like, [i]likes[/i] you. Has since that whole Wannaweep episode." He grinned at you, "Way I hear it that was your first taste of being the hero yourself instead of Kim's sidekick." He waved his hands in negation, "Sidekick work is cool, but the ladies love heroes right man? Just sorta the way of the world."

You sat there kinda stunned, and he took that as permission to continue.

"She's wanted to date you for awhile, and honestly, we started dating because we both felt we had a lot in common, with the whole obtuse superhero crush thing."

Ordinarily, you'd rise to bait like that in heartbeat. Kim was awesome! And only obtuse sometimes when it came to stuff she didn't really get! Which, in fairness, did sorta include dating given her track record. Right now though you just let Mankey talk. You wanted to hear what he had to say.

"So, here's the deal. If you want to date Tara, I'll back off. No hard feelings on anybody's part. Everything's cool. But dude, if you [i]don't[/i] want to date Tara you got to tell her that. You have to acknowledge her feelings and make things clear. This whole will they or won't they deal makes for good stories, but it's pure hell for actual [i]people[/i]." He shakes his head looks at you with a solemn look in his eyes.

"So Ron, what's it going to be?'

[] I'm not sure about this, but if you don't mind, I think I'd like to give it a chance. It's the least I could do for leaving her on the hook like that.(Ron will enter into a relationship with Tara next update)

[] No, I think Tara's been better off as a friend. I'll go tell her that to clear things up. Thanks for telling me, Josh. (Ron will talk to Tara and clear up the misunderstandings next update)


	25. Week 11 pt2 Go-ing, Go-ing, Go-ne

It was a difficult question. On the one hand, you _did_ like Tara. Not really as much as she apparently liked you, but enough to want to give things with her a shot. Mankey seemed okay with the idea when he gave you that option, and that was really cool of him. It would be a good way to put yourself out there, to get some actual experience with the ladies, as it were. Heck, if things didn't work out then it wouldn't be the end of the world. Still...

The more you thought about it, the less you thought it was a good idea. Tara was awesome. That was indisputable. The problem was... you had about a million things you needed to be doing. Training, networking, organizing, Monster Combat Missions, KP Missions, even schoolwork was taking up a fair amount of your time lately. Adding dating on top of everything else? That did _not_ sound like a smart move. In fact, it seemed like the kind of move that would get Mister B yelling at you again. 'Stoppable!' He'd yell, 'get what you've got under control before you add even more on top of it! Do you _want_ to get your friends and teammates injured or worse!?'

That was another thing! You actually had _friends_ now, besides Kim! That had never happened before! Argghhh! You stopped thinking, and took a deep breath.

Ultimately, the question was 'do I want to date Tara?' You shoved everything else in your head away, pros, cons, positives and negatives. Did you want to date Tara? The answer... was no. You liked her. Heck, you liked her a lot! She was a great friend, an awesome teammate, and an all around good person. You just... didn't want to date her. Huh. One of the prettiest girls in school was interested in you and you just... didn't reciprocate. Not the way she wanted. Weird. Another confusing issue for the growing pile of weird and new strangeness that had engulfed your life.

You sighed deeply and looked Josh dead in the eye.

"No," you said," I think Tara and I are better off as friends. I'll tell her that, and clear things up. Thanks for telling me, Josh."

Josh looked at you seriously, "No problem Ron. You're not the kinda guy to lead someone on, so I thought you deserved a heads up. I'll see you at school." He nodded to you, all cool style and headed off towards the nearest parking lot.

You stood there in the band shell as the sun finished setting, at a bit of a loss. A thousand different thoughts went through your head, regrets, could have beens, and more than a little frustration. Finally though, as the park's lights came on around you, you got yourself under control again. This week sure wasn't pulling any punches!

You headed back to your bike, and drove home slowly and carefully. The ride was just as smooth as you remembered it, but it wasn't the same. You weren't man and machine attaining oneness with the road, you were just a guy on a cool motorcycle headed home after an emotionally exhausting evening.

xXx

Friday started off way better than you'd expected it, especially since you'd thought it'd take longer to fall asleep after an evening like _that_.

Well, the comfort naco you bought probably helped, especially since Ned gave you a bit of extra cheese, just for his biggest customer. Your morning routine was totally normal- eating a hearty breakfast of samurai skillets made by Mom, getting your clothes on, brushing your teeth and getting ready to leave.

Of course, walking to the driveway instead of the sidewalk was a change. As was putting on the black and gold leather suit Señor Senior Senior dropped by when he heard about your recent purchase. The helmet itself was an addition of Nico's. The man said that if you wanted to ride the thing, you might as well make sure you didn't die on the first go. After that, you went through the motions to start the machine, feeling the purr of the engine below you as you got ready to ride. After a few steps, you were off of the driveway pavement, and ready to go. With a metallic howl, you shot forward towards the school. You skirted the speed limit, too lost in the humming vibrations of the road to really care about petty limitations. As the High School approached, the nearby traffic increased. You took that as a sort of challenge, bobbing and weaving around the cars of student and faculty alike, revving a little as you took the right turn into the school's parking lot. You blasted into the silent place, finishing your little stunt with a sharp turn into the parking slot right next to you.

As the engine died down, you could hear the faint whispers of your classmates around you. Popping the kickstand, you surveyed the various faces that had gathered around your beast. Brick and Junior were smiling, but not surprised. Señor Senior Senior must have given them a head's up or something. Everyone else was talking about your entrance, though. Which was awesome, because that meant it probably went exactly as you'd thought it would when you were daydreaming during breakfast. Slowly, the crowd parted to let a single man approach.

"'Sup, Ron." Mankey had his hand out, and you took it without hesitation before going in for an awesome bro-hug that he reciprocated. All around you, a sharp intake of breath was heard. Apparently, even though you were something approaching cool now, it was still pretty common to think of you as a dork. The few times you'd totally wiped out last week probably hadn't helped, in retrospect.

You shrugged, locked up your bike, slipped your helmet off your head and onto your backpack. Once you were sure it was firmly in place, and that you totally hadn't spaced taking the key out, headed into the school. Brick and Junior followed along, and the rest of the students just sort of came in after them. It would have been kinda creepy if you weren't totally sure it was because they were blown away by _the Ronshine_.

Today was going to be a great day.

XxX

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Kim Possible was _not_ a happy camper. She stood outside the front door of Middleton High School waiting, and she frowned, lost in thought. The last week had been like something concocted by a medieval torturer! Sure, she'd thought that the idea of DRAKKEN of all people influencing anyone was a Bad Thing, but she'd had no idea what spending time with him in a non-thwarting capacity was like! Kim shuddered. After the last few days she had a _lot_ more respect for Shego than she ever thought she would.

He never stopped talking. Ever. Kim had thought his monologuing was bad enough when he was actively trying to take over the world, but when he was trying to teach someone it was a thousand times worse! To add insult to injury, Drakken's bizarre attempts at mentoring had eaten up all of Kim's non-Mission and non-School time. On the plus side, she was giving Ron that space she thought he needed. On the minus side, she'd seen almost nothing of him for the last week!

They passed in the halls, hung out between classes, and talked when they could, but that was way less interaction than they usually had. He hadn't even been able to tell her anything about what Shego was doing to him! She _knew_ that witch was up to something! She just wished she'd gotten to Shego before Ron had jumped on the grenade. It was sweet of him. Stupid, but sweet. Who knew what crazy stuff he'd had to do with Shego as a career week mentor!

As Kim walked to her locker, she did her best not to let her internal discomfort show. Unfortunately, she ran into Monique, who immediately noticed something was off.

"Alright girl," Monique said, "Lay it on me. What's got you trippin'?"

"What, no," Kim tried to deflect, "I'm fine Monique, nothing's wrong."

"Uh huh," Monique drawled, "Nothing's wrong? Everything's fine? You're not wiggin' out over Ron getting stuck with Ms Evil Thing for a week?"

Kim's eyes narrowed and her hand gripped into a fist, crushing the homework she'd been pulling out of her backpack. She paused and relaxed her hand, and tried to smooth the papers back out. "OK, so maybe I'm a little tweaked from dealing with Drakken all day every day, and worried about what Shego's got Ron doing. It's normal! Supervillains are majorly of the bad."

Kim sighed, "I guess I just hoped that if he picked Shego and I kept an eye on Drakken we'd get to spend some time together. I don't know Monique, it just seems like we've been drifting lately. He's been changing so much..."

"Girl, I thought that was a _good_ thing," Monique asked, "Weren't you glad for him a couple weeks ago? Said he was comin' out of his shell?"

"Yeah, but I always thought that when he did that we'd still be together all the time. Now he's got new club stuff, and it seems like we're almost never around each other. This week was just worse than usual..."

"Don't worry about it Kim!" Monique reassured her, "You just gotta find the time to talk with him, and you'll find that the whole thing will blow over. I'm sure he's missing you as much as you're missing him."

"Maybe you're right Monique", Kim started, before falling silent. What was that?!

The loud roar of a motorcycle echoed across the schoolyard. Moving faster than Kim thought was probably safe, a gold and black custom motorcycle came into view and turned sharply into the school parking lot. It's driver spun it completely around as it parked, in an impressive display of driving skill. Whoever this was, they knew how to ride a bike. Regardless of safety, it was one heck of an entrance.

Kim cocked her head at the motorcycle, something about the rider looked familiar. She wasn't sure what though, it wasn't like anyone could tell who it was while they were wearing that helmet and those motorcycle leathers. Then Josh Mankey of all people walked up to it. Kim wasn't sure how to feel about Mankey. On the one hand, they'd pretty much been way over. On the other, he _was_ her last serious crush. Mostly, she'd just let things go, figuring Tara would be happy with him. That didn't mean her emotions always agreed with her. Wait, who did he say this was?!

The mysterious stranger took off his helmet and confirmed it. RON!? SERIOUSLY?! When had he gotten a motorcycle? Heck, when had he gotten lessons or a permit for one?! What was going on with him?! Kim stood there, staring silently, her jaw hanging open until Monique raised a hand and gently closed it for her.

"Well Kim," she said, "Looks like you've got something to bring up when you talk to Ron, huh?"

xXx

You really needed to stop jinxing yourself. Running through the Wyoming countryside was one thing, doing so while bleeding from a gunshot wound was another. Everything had gone wrong from the start. You weren't sure what it was you did this time, but you kicked off the alarm much earlier than you'd even thought possible. Before you managed to stun the guys running the security cameras, you were taking fire from the guards.

Of course, they still weren't anything much to deal with. You'd gotten sloppy on the way back and in your haste you now sported a slowly bleeding gash on your right shoulder. As you dashed to the hovercraft, you kept as much pressure on the bleeding shoulder as you could while still moving at top speed. That wasn't much. By the time you jumped into to your seat, your sleeve was seriously stained. You looked over to Shego, whose face was scrunched up as she tried to hold in back her laughter. Finally, her mask cracked a little.

"Never assume your allies are on your side, idiot." What did sh-

Oh.

 _Oooooohhh_. She obviously saw your face, since that was enough to set her off into an uncontrollable fit of cackling. You felt yourself growing slightly annoyed with your erstwhile mentor. Seriously, was evil really _that_ petty?! You quickly checked the round in your gun, confirming that is was another one of the Hencho stun rounds, before coming to a somewhat fun conclusion. Evil was petty, and you were supposed to be evil right now!

So why not be a little mean? Before she could even register what you were doing you drew your sidearm and fired a round at her, watching as the electrified shell clipped her hand. With a yelp, she stopped laughing while you chuckled a little bit.

"What the hell, Stoppable?!" She'd have been more intimidating if her left plasma-coated hand wasn't lying limply by her side. You rolled your eyes.

"Not so funny now, is it? Now get the hovercraft going, the guards are still chasing me and I'm still _bleeding_."

"If you hadn't noticed, Sidekick, I only have one hand to start it with." The impulse to make dumb jokes about her dating prospects aside, you looked at her flatly.

"Has that stopped you before?" She heaved a frustrated sigh as the sounds of pursuit grew louder, and with some effort managed to start the thing up. As you rose out of the field you'd been sitting in, you finally got enough pressure on your wound to staunch the bleeding. No more blood loss for you today! Probably. Still, it would be best for you to get some medical attention.

"Shego, can you drop me in front of Kim's house? I should probably get this looked a-"

"No." She didn't even let you finish?! Didn't she even pretend to care about your wellbeing?

"But I'm injured!" She rolled her eyes.

"It's just a graze. You'll sleep it off and be better in no time!"

"Bu-"

"[i[Fine[/i]. If you're really so married to the idea of getting help, then I'll bring you to someone who can patch you up. Better him than Princess' mother, who'll probably let things slip to Kimmie even if you should be protected by patient confidentiality." Oh, right. You probably shouldn't let your choice of mentor, much less your activities, get around to her family if at all Possible. That would not be a pleasant conversation. And besides, if it was a guy Shego knew he'd probably be professional, calm and at the very least decent to deal with.

XxX

"SHEGO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE RIGHT NOW? YOU'RE NOT DUE BACK FROM VACATION UNTIL NEXT WEEK!" Dr. Drakken yelled at his nominal sidekick, ignoring the blood you'd tracked in.

"Riiight, well, y'see Doctor D," Shego drawled back, "My little Career Week protegee here forgot to follow the rules and got a little banged up. Could you take a look at him?"

Wait. Shego's medical guy is DRAKKEN?! Suddenly, you've got some reservations about this. Also, wait, wasn't Drakken one of the Career Week Mentors who actually got picked, who was it who got him again? You know this, you really should know this...

"OH MY GOD! RON! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Oh, that's right, Kim picked him to keep him from influencing any impressionable teenagers. WAIT KIM!?

And now she's run across the room and started stripping your shirt off. "Er, hey, KP," you winced as the shirt brushed over your gunshot wound.

Before Kim could do more than get at your wound Drakken pushed her gently away. "Stand aside Kim Possible, let the Doctor do his job!"

You blinked, "Wait, you're a medical doctor? I thought you had a PhD or something?"

"Actually Buffoon," Drakken expostulated as he pulled out a First Aid kit from under a bench, "I'm a licensed paramedic. Now hold still, this will sting like the dickens." Boy, did it! You shuddered as he carefully cleaned out the graze with some medical wipes, and then swiftly and competently applied a wound dressing.

You and Kim stared at him as he demonstrated more competence at helping you than he ever had as a supervillain. Once he'd finished taping you up he looked up and noticed your stares.

"What?" he asks, "I paid my way through to my doctorate by working as a first responder. As long as you show up on time for your shift and don't steal medical supplies you're way ahead of the pack."

"Didn't you drop out of college?" Kim asked plaintively.

"They let me in, I let myself out," Drakken replied, "Then, I continued my higher education through a series of alternative courses of study, including, but not limited to, paramedic school." All three of you were staring at him now.

"Really," he sniffed, "Is it so hard to believe I, the Great Doctor DRAKKEN! Am capable of such things."

In a bizarre moment of shared confusion, you, Shego and Kim looked at one another, and resolved never to mention this again.

Kim shook herself and examined you. "Ron," she said slowly, "Is that HenchCo tactical gear?"

"Uh, yeah," you replied, "All part of the Career Week package KP!"

Kim's eyes slowly moved from you to Shego, and they narrowed. Her lips thinned as well, and you could tell that she was getting ready to blow. Oh man, what was she thinking? Heck, what had _you_ been thinking! Of course this would get back to Kim somehow! Why hadn't you thought up an excuse or something to explain this away!

Surprisingly, Kim didn't immediately explode. Instead, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and deliberately turned from Shego back to you.

"We'll talk about this later, Ron. When we're not in Drakken's Lair. I appreciate the need to keep Shego away from the rest of the student body, but I would have helped. You didn't need to go _this_ far." She gestured at your gear, and looked pointedly at your injured shoulder.

Shego took the opportunity to cut in, "So y'see sidekick, when you're actually getting paid for your work, you get benefits packages. Dr D handles all our medical issues inhouse, and what he can't we get grade-a coverage for."

Drakken turned his nose up at that and stalked off, "Hmph," he harrumphed, "Of course you do Shego! I'm not a barbarian! If my henchmen are injured or ill they can't do my evil bidding! I can take care of 99% of our issues personally, I'm not made of money after all!" Before making it more than a few meters away, he spun back around and raised one hand, index finger high.

"Kim Possible!" he cried, "This is an excellent opportunity for your final lesson in proper super villainy!"

Kim groaned, and covered her face with her hands.

"Proper management of Sidekicks!" Drakken continued, either ignoring her or just not noticing. It was hard to tell with him. "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get to this while Shego was on vacation! Now, you have to strike a delicate balance with your sidekick, helping, but not restricting them." He tapped his chin, "I imagine it's a bit like raising a teenager, so take this as valuable advice if you ever decide to inflict another generation of irritating do-gooders on the world."

Kim didn't react besides groaning again, louder. Wow, if this was what she'd been dealing with for the last week maybe getting shot at wasn't so bad, glancing shoulder wound and all.

"Now, when I first heard Shego wanted to take some time off to keep her education certification current, I was skeptical at first. But she had the accrued vacation days, and she chose to use it in a suitably villainous manner! I'm sure that her presence at your school has been driving you absolutely mad with paranoia!"

Kim shot Shego a poisonous look that promised pain the next time they fought. Man, you were glad for the whole "fade into the background" thing that happened when you kept your trap shut. Unfortunately, Drakken wasn't done.

"Despite being otherwise occupied, she still knew she could come to me for help. Cheap medical service in this instance. You have to manage your sidekick carefully Kim Possible! Give them space, but also make sure they know they can come to you when they need to! Isn't that right Shego?"

Shego glanced at you, and then looked at Drakken, "Sure thing Doctor D," she smirked, "Whatever you say. Me and my little Career Week Protegee will get out of your hair. Wouldn't want to distract you from your mentoring any further. A sidekick's job is to be seen and not heard, right?"

"Quite Right Shego, I'm glad you're starting to appreciate that. Not everyone is a fan of how lippy you get! NOW! Kim Possible! Listen and Learn!"

Kim gave you a look like a drowning man in search of a life preserver. Shego saw that look, grinned, and smashed Kim's hopes. She grabbed you by the collar and pulled you out of the room. You shrugged at Kim as you dragged your feet on your way out. You guys would have to talk later.

After throwing you into the hovercraft, she flew off towards Middleton. While you were doing that, you took the opportunity to set up a talk with Tara.

[quote]Hey Tara, you mind meeting up for a talk tomorrow morning?[/quote]

Within a few minutes, she responded.

[quote] Sure, Josh said you might ask. Something up?[/quote]

You continued the digital conversation.

[quote] Not really. Just want to clear some stuff up. Anywhere you want to meet?[/quote]

You'd started touching down in Middleton before you finally got your answer.

[quote] The Park near Middleton High sound good? I was going to jog there before the weekend practice. I can meet you there around nine.[/quote]

As you got out of the vehicle and walked to the front door, you finished the conversation.

[quote]Awesome. See you then.[/quote]

You hoped this wouldn't go too badly…

XxX

The crisp air of Winter in the park only set you on edge for what would have otherwise been a nice Saturday morning. It was colder than normal, though the bench you were sitting on wasn't too uncomfortable. As you breathed fog into the cold air, you quietly fiddled with your own thumbs. You knew this conversation was going to suck. A few minutes later, Tara came into view. She was clad in cooler clothing than you were, but she was busy jogging before she saw you and likely knew she would have worked up a sweat. When she saw you, she gave an energetic wave before running up to you.

"Hey Ron, you wanted to talk to me about something?" She didn't sit down or stop moving. She just kept slowly pacing while she talked. You couldn't tell if she was nervous or just trying to stay warm. You sighed. There really wasn't a better way to go about this than to just get it over with. It'd be like pulling off a bandage. A sticky, cootie-covered one, but it was the same in principle.

"Look, do you like me?" She rolled her eyes.

"Of course I do! You're one of my friends, and I'm not friends with people I don't like, dummy." She smiled, but you could tell it didn't completely reach her eyes.

"You know what I mean, Tara," She opened her mouth, but you were already on a roll and you couldn't stop the stream of words falling from your mouth, "I'm not here to wreck your relationship or anything- Josh was the one who told me. I just wanted to talk with you about it, and clear some things up. I mean, I like you too Tara but I'm not sure if it's in that way and even if I wanted to try you're with Josh and I don't want to feel like a terrible person and there's so much going on right now that I can't really get into a relationship and, and, and-" you were gasping for breath, letting out so much opaque air that Tara's figure started to blur. After a few seconds, the fog you created cleared up to show the blonde cheerleader simply pinching the bridge of her nose.

"You know you two could really be twins, right? Look, I get it. I understand how both of you feel. It sucks, trust me. I do like you, Ron. Lots. I think you're braver than you'll ever give yourself credit for, and every moment I spend around you only seems to prove that more. I admire you, Ron. I get that you don't want to go out with me right now, and I'm _okay_ with that. I figured it was a losing battle from the start, especially since I'd imagine that would end with me having to deal with Kim." Well, that was confusing. You were sure Kim wouldn't have any problems with you dating!

"But Kim's my best friend, she'd never try to interfere with a relationship I decided to enter!" Tara giggled at that.

"Go on thinking that, Ron. Someone out there needs to. Just remember that this isn't a zero sum game. I can like more than one person, and still function as a human being. I think you understand that, on some level, and while I did have a crush on you I think I'll be able to shelve it. Even if it might return at...inopportune moments. So there's nothing to worry about, Ron," she turned to the left and shouted, "AND THAT INCLUDES YOU TOO, JOSH." Surprisingly enough, the blonde artist fell out of a nearby bush when she said that. With a small start, he jumped up and brushed himself up before walking to the two of you in a deceptively calm manner.

"'Sup?" You looked at him, slackjawed.

"You were spying on us?" He nodded.

"Yup." It was then that Tara seemed to snap, falling to the ground in a fit of laughter.

"You two really _are_ the same person!" No! Your name was Ron and you weren't in any way relatable to mo- oh wait, MMP. Well, you certainly weren't as pop- no, you couldn't say that anymore. At least he was calmer than you? And he was way more artsy! To your side, Josh chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess we are!" Wait, if Josh was your twin, did that mean… The thought itself made you fall to the ground and scream to the heavens.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Your own great yell served enough to bring the blonde couple's attention to you.

"What's wrong, Ron? I thought you and Josh were sorta okay with each other?" You nodded.

"Of course we are. But if we're twins, then one of us has to be the good one and the evil one, right?! And Josh is, well, _Josh_. Which means that I'm the evil twin! I just didn't know it yet! I even went to train under SHEGO of all people for a week! VOLUNTARILY! It's already happening!" Tara resumed spasming in laughter on the ground, while Josh pinched his nose.

"Dude, we don't have to be good and evil. You've seen the Bash Brothers, man," Of course you had, they'd co-starred with a few Fearless Ferret episodes, "we can be like them. Except we use guns." You know what? That sounded awesome, and it meant you didn't have to betray him in a contrived plot arc a few seasons in! That was totally the best of both worlds. You perked up as the hum of the park seemed to take on a new vibrance.

"Yeah, that sounds like something we could do! We'll be the greatest pair of twin superhero hunters ever!" Tara finally managed to calm herself down enough to look weirded out by how far you were going with this, even as the din of the area made it hard to hear her.

"You do know you're not _actually_ twins, right?" Together you turned to her.

"Don't ruin the moment, Tara." She said something that you couldn't hear, as the sounds of the world around you grew even louder.

The buzzing changed to an almost earsplitting pitch, before you felt yourself getting yanked up by something. With a rough shove, you found yourself in the seat of an all too familiar hovercraft. Shego sat in the driver's seat, busy righting herself from what you assumed was her own crazy maneuver to grab you.

"Stay in the seat and don't even _think_ of trying to shoot me again or so help me I will make this crash in a way you won't survive." Not willing to see if she'd cash that threat, you plugged the seatbelt in with resignation. As you looked back to grab the thing, you noted the a small cooler in the back of the vehicle.

"So where are we going?" She sighed.

"Go City. I need you to do something for me." Of course she did.

"What do you want stolen?" She rolled her eyes.

"Not everything I do is criminal, Stoppable," The raised eyebrows were enough to convey your disbelief, "I just want to you to bake me a cake, alright? Can't you humor a girl on her birthday?" You frowned at the thought.

"You have a birthday?"

"Uh, doy! How do you think I came to be here?" You opened your mouth but she cut you off, "Never mind. I'm pretty sure I really don't want to know this answer. Beyond that, I have some… _unfinished business_ there."

Well. That wasn't ominous at all.

XxX

Shego kept quiet the rest of the ride. You were a little concerned about being abducted, but she'd technically been doing that all week. It didn't take long though, before you started flying over an unfamiliar city.

"So," you said, "Where are we going?"

"Uggghh," Shego groaned, "You couldn't have kept quiet the whole way. Fine, we're over Go City right now. I've got some people for you to speak with."

"Wait. Go City!? As in, soon to be home to the world's largest Bueno Nacho Go City?! Kim and I scheduled a trip for its grand opening as soon as it was announced back in September!"

"Why am I not surprised that _that's_ your point of reference," Shego sighed, "Anyway, I'm going to drop you off to speak with some of the locals. They have a ... useful frame of reference for your issues."

"What issues?" you asked cluelessly.

"The Mystical Monkey Power or whatever you want to call it. When we fought that vampire you saw something weird that no one else saw. These people should be able to help."

"Oh cool!" you exclaimed, "That's awesome! Who are they?"

"Why don't you find out?" Shego said as she pressed a button the console. Huh, you wondered what that meant? For all of about five seconds before your seat rocketed out of the hovercraft and landed on top of a giant building shaped like the word Go. Ejector seat. Nice! And you didn't even scream this time! You must be getting used to having your life spontaneously put in horrible danger! Wait, that isn't a good thing...

You unbuckled your belt, stood up, and looked over the roof of the Go Building. There was a door close by, and it didn't _look_ too seriously secured. You went over to it and found it completely unlocked. You shrugged and headed down into the building.

As you went, you got an idea of the aesthetic this place was designed with. The whole place screamed super base. You just weren't sure if it was hero or villain. Your gut said hero, there were too many bright primary colors for a proper villainous lair, but why would Shego of all people send you to talk to a bunch of superheroes? That'd just be crazy! Still, this place had all the amenities. While searching for people, you found a jet hangar, a supercomputer, a seriously impressive combination gym and combat training area, and even a jacuzzi! Whoever these guys were, they knew how to stock a base. You felt like you should be taking notes for your eventual Hunt Club headquarters once you had some funds. You guys couldn't operate out of the school forever after all. What you didn't find though, was any kind of kitchen area. That had to be further down, and you did not want Shego angry with you. Well, angri _er_

Eventually, you heard the sounds of someone moving around, and inched towards the noise. Whoever this was had to know who Shego was sending you after. You wound up in what _had_ to be the control center for the whole base. It had a conference table with another giant GO on it and everything!

The weird part was the people. There were four guys in here, all dressed in odd costumes that looked... well, a lot like Shego's. Two boys who looked a little older than Jim and Tim in red, a skinny guy in purple, and a giant of a man in blue. Each of them turned to you upon your entrance. The Blue guy with a face that went from elated to confused in seconds, the purple one with a fixed scowl and a roll of his eyes while the red twins just smiled at you. You waved.

"Uuh, hi?" The blue one nodded.

"Good afternoon, citizen," he paused, "How exactly did you get in here?"

"Uh, you left the door on the roof unlocked."

"See Hego," the purple one said sourly, "I told you that door was a mistake."

"Now Mego," Hego replied, "The roof has the best view of the city! We just need to be more careful about locking it." He turned back to you, "Now, what brings you to the Go Tower, Citizen?"

You blinked, "Uh, an ejector seat?"

"Really?" Hego asked curiously, "I had no idea they had sufficient range to reach the Go Tower from the city proper!"

Mego smacked his face with one hand, "He meant _why_ are you here." He looked at you with narrowed eyes, "I'd like to know that too by the way."

"Oh right," you nodded in understanding, "Shego kidnapped me and shot me at your tower. Said some people could help with… uuh, something personal."

"And how do you know Shego citizen?" Hego asked, "She is not the bastion of heroism she once was! She's turned her back on Justice and Freedom! In fact, I believe she's an internationally wanted criminal if I'm not mistaken!"

"No duh, man. I've been getting dragged around the world to steal stuff for the entire week because of her," you get a couple of hard looks in response to that little nugget of information, "And against my will, might I add!" Sorta. you squinted.

Hego ran up to you and gave you an all encompassing hug, "You poor boy! You're safe now, here, in the Go Tower, home of TEAM GO!"

Alright, you're starting to have trouble breathing now. You try and tap on Hego's massive biceps and wheeze out "Thanks?"

"Oh let up Hego, the kid can't breathe."

Hego immediately let you go, and dusted you off, "Ah, my apologies citizen, sometimes I don't know my own strength," he leapt back, began to glow blue all over his body like Shego's hands glowed green, and lifted the conference table over his head, "MY SUPER STRENGTH!"

"Okay, so you have superpowers like Shego. Fantastic. Now I can be threatened by four more people. Great."

"Nah, my brothers don't threaten anyone but supervillains Sidekick. You'll be fine." Shego put in as she walked by snacking on a bag of chips.

"Shego!" you, Hego, Mego, and the twins yelled.

"Yeah?" she said with a raised eyebrow.

"You're here!" cried Hego, "You've come back to us!"

"Whoa whoa whoa," Shego said quickly holding up her hands palm forward in a gesture that clearly meant to stop, "I am not here to come back. I'm here because the Sidekick there needs help, and I figured that unfortunately, we, as a group, were probably the best people to help him."

"Still sis," Mego put in, "You showed up for your birthday for the first time in years. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it."

"Shyeah, and you wouldn't be seeing it if it weren't completely necessary," Shego sighed, "Look, you'll like this. The sidekick there roped me into doing some monster hunting. Turns out Vampires, werewolves, and a whole bunch of other things that go bump in the night are real."

"I KNEW IT!" cried Hego, "I KNEW THE SUPERNATURAL WAS REAL!"

"Well, of course it's real you dim bulb, we all have superpowers. But seriously Shego, Vampires? Really?"

"I know Mego," Shego rolled her eyes, "It sounds like something from one of Hego's comic books, but it's true. It's how I knew that blondie over here had something supernatural going on himself. The Vampire we were hunting had this supernatural fear deal, and the two of us were the only ones there who actually saw what its power really looked like, and boy was that freaky."

"Yeah," you agreed quickly, "I don't get how no one else saw the shadowy tentacles of darkness that oozed sick and wrong."

"Because Stoppable," Shego drawled, "you and I have something that they don't. Superpowers."

"Shego!" Hego cried, "Is this true!? Have you taken on a superheroic protegee!"

"Yeah, no," Shego shut him down, "If anything he's the one dragging me into being less evil. The kid just had an accident with these weird stone statues that gave him weird monkey powers."

"How'd you know about the statues Shego?" you asked suspiciously. You hadn't told her anything about that.

"Monty won't shut up about how you and your little rodent friend smashed the things. He'd spent years tracking them down, and lost them almost immediately."

"Oh, yeah, Monkey Fist was there too. I forgot."

"Monkey Fist? You have your own animal themed super villain archnemesis?!" Hego exclaimed.

"Well, yeah, but just the one," you replied, "I'm the sidekick usually, hence Shego calling me that. Kim's the one who usually has the archnemeses. In fact, Shego works for her number one recurring baddie, Dr Drakken."

"Ok," Shego said quickly, "Let's not make this about me! Anyway Hego, I thought if you guys wanted to give me a birthday present, you could take a look at Stoppable here, and see if your understanding jibes with mine."

"I'd be happy to help Sis," Hego said pompously, "Anything to help the cause of Justice!"

"Yeah sure," Mego said waspishly, "What's in it for me?"

"I'll let you have some of the birthday cake that Stoppable's going to bake me. He's a world class chef and we spent the last week getting the ingredients for it."

"Hey wait," the twins looked at you, "Didn't you say-" "-that Shego had made you steal stuff for the last week?"

"Ahaha," you laughed nervously, "Yeah sure kinda... Anyway which way to the kitchen little dudes, the Ron man's got some baking to do!"

The twins looked at you closely before shrugging and heading out of the room. They motioned for you to follow as they went out the door, and you did. Anything to avoid Shego Family time!

XxX

The actual baking didn't take long. It took you about an hour to get the cake put together and into the oven. The twins, who you learned were collectively referred to as Wego, peppered you with questions as you worked. Where did you go live? Were you still in school, and if so what school did you go to? What was hunting monsters like? Who did you fight crime with? What was Shego like these days?

You answered all their questions politely, while only skimping on the details when they got too close to something nasty. You didn't think that a pair of what looked like thirteen year olds needed to know the gory details of how you got into Monster Hunting.

Talking about your adventures with Kim, however, was another matter. As you waited for the dough to rise, you told them about your escapades around the world, and how you helped people every single day you could. They seemed pretty cool with it all, if a little bored. Still, they enjoyed the tale of the confrontation with Monkey Fist well enough themselves. Especially when you had a super awesome Kung-Fu battle with your own archnemesis.

They tried to press you on the Shego front, but by that time the Cake was ready and all you needed to do was ice it, and you'd be golden. They left after the fifth time you told them to get ready, just in case they decided to try snitching your dutch vanilla heaven recipe. When that was done, you brought the thing out into the conference room where Hego said they would be. Almost as one, the five of them turned to you when the double layered-marble cherry surprise birthday cake you'd gotten moved into the room. You could swear you saw drool dripping out of their mouths.

With a small bow, you started cutting into the cake. Making sure to slice of a larger piece than you normally would, you lay it down into some nice looking plates you found into the kitchen. After that, you took out the quart of vanilla bean ice cream you found in the freeze-

"HEY! That's my ice cream!" Mego blurted out, only to be silenced by four angry glares as you placed a single scoop on the plate. You handed the thing to Shego, who seemed to be honestly considering whether or not she'd tear into the thing with her hands. Finally though, she shrugged, picked up a spoon, and dug in. Or at least tried to, because it was then that Hego raised his voice.

"Well, since our dear sister is here and it is her birthday," you could see the scowl already beginning to form on Shego's face. It was honestly kind of hilarious. "We must celebrate it in the traditional way."

What followed was probably the single worst rendition of happy birthday you'd ever heard. Sure, you were in a room full of Superheroes but apparently none of them could sing to save their lives. By the end of it, following the verse that proudly asked how old she was (24, apparently), you weren't sure totally Shego wasn't going to up and leave again with the aura she was throwing off in waves. Of course, the bad mood didn't last long in the face of your awesome baking skills! In fact, now that everyone seemed to have a slice, you decided to help yourself. The room was quiet for a moment as everyone just enjoyed their cake. When things slowed down a bit, Shego finally spoke up.

"Okay, so while you were off baking, Hego, Mego and I had a serious talk about your powers. Now, we've got a few theories about how they came to be, but that doesn't matter right now. We've discussed the possibility of training you, but you'll need to come with one of us to get in. The doors only recognize someone with powers, and you don't know how to use them yet." Yeah, that would kinda suck. You didn't want to get caught outside.

"Which means," Hego cut in, "that you'll need to be accompanied by Shego. She wanted to just give you our phone numbers, but we could never be sure you'd arrive when we're out saving the day."

"It also means she can't weasel out of coming back here and seeing us for once," Mego laughed. That made enough sense. Still, Shego seemed antsy enough as it was.

"Yeah, yeah. And it's all really nice. Now, we should probably get going. I have a class to prep for tomorrow morning." She grabbed you by the arm, scooped up the rest of the cake and moved to the roof. When she was up there, she strapped into the hovercraft and shot up before you could even get into your seat. When you finally managed to get into the seat, you were halfway home. Apparently, she'd had enough of the familial embarrassment, or something along those lines. Ten minutes later, you were outside your house in Middleton and she blasted off somewhere else. With that over, you flopped down into your bed and went to sleep.

XxX

You woke up Sunday expecting things to be more packed than they'd been in quite a while. First on the docket was the team meeting, where you'd go over what you knew about Gill, his past, his goals, and his powers. After that you'd all share Career Week stories and you were really looking forward to that. Last, but not least, you'd head over to stately Masters Manor, and check in with Vlad and Jazz. You hadn't been able to spend any time with her this week, and you felt a little bad about not helping get her settled in. You'd have more time next week though!

Sunday was cool and clear as you could hope for, for a Colorado morning in early December. The roads were even clear enough for you to bring the Ronshine! You zoomed down the streets and made it to school ahead of just about everyone else. You locked up Dawn, and headed into the school, thinking over what Gill being around would mean.

There hadn't been any more missing persons things going on, and the scientist who'd taken custody of him hadn't hit up the site. Hopefully, that meant he was still getting set up and hadn't already built up an army of mutants. Maybe the fact that it was the dead of winter in not-so-sunny Colorado that had slowed him down? Still, better safe than sorry...

By the time you made it into the room you had your thoughts marshalled, and you were ready to brief everyone. Which was good, because the rest of the club started showing up as soon as you sat down. Mister B was first, and he gave you a hard look.

"Be more careful on that bike of yours Stoppable. If we hadn't worked off the rust from my reflexes you'd be down a bike and up a full body cast."

You winced, "Jeez Mister B, I'm sorry. I'll be more careful. It was my second day with the new ride. I wanted to put it through its paces!"

He narrowed his eyes at you and nodded, "I think you did that Stoppable, now what's the plan for dealing with this mutant freak?"

The rest of the club piled in as he asked, you guessed Brick or Josh must have given the girls a ride, because there's no way all of them would have fit in Bonnie's convertible. Maybe Viv gave them a lift on the underground express or something? You wave them to their seats and step up to the front of the room.

"OK guys, we're here early to talk about the threat that Brick discovered outside Lowerton. The location and coloration of the scale together make it clear that Gill's back. As Mister B and the girls already know, Gill's an old summer camp 'buddy' of mine. He got mutated in the horrific chemical abyss of Lake Wannaweep and setup the Cheer Team to get turned into freaky mutants just like him. "

Bonnie and Tara shuddered, and Mister B scratched at his neck where the gills had started to come in.

"Now, there haven't been any other indicators that Gill's up to something. The scientist who took custody of him after he got caught hasn't reported him missing, and there's no reports of mutants or missing people in the Lake Wannaweep area. That's good. It means he's probably still feeling things out, and hasn't started trying to build another army of super-mutants."

Brick raised a hand, "Uh Ron, what exactly can this Gill guy do? If we're going to be fighting the guy, what's his deal?"

You sighed and straightened up, "It's like this Brick. A few years back I went to summer camp at the place of evil known as Camp Wannaweep. While I was there I refused to swim in the contaminated waters, and traded all my swim time with another camper, a guy named Gil, with one L. Turns out I was smart to do that, because he ended up mutating into a super strong, super swimming, mutagen goo spewing, reptile-fish swamp mutant. He even changed his name to Gill with two LLs."

Josh put an arm around Tara and Bonnie started huddling up against Brick, who's beginning to look a bit concerned. Mister B's face just hardened further, and Viv's scrunched up in disgust.

"He somehow heard that I'd ended up on the Middleton High Cheer Squad as the Mad Dog and tricked the squad into a trap. All of us, and Mister B," you nodded to the teacher, "Got caught in a bad horror movie for a night."

You sighed, "He wanted revenge on me, so he was going to mutate everyone into freaky mutants just like him. I managed to beat him, with some help from my little buddy," Rufus ran up to your shoulder and held his hands over his head like a champ, "and Kim called in a scientist to take custody of him to fix him up. The last I heard he was back to normal, but if Brick's finding giant green scales in the Wannaweep area, then things might have changed."

"Alright Stoppable, what's the game plan here then?" Mister B asked firmly, "Are we going to go in and take out his base of operations? Take him out before he starts mutating innocent people?"

Josh piped in, "I think we need more information. We know about this Gill guy, but we don't know the lay of the land. For all we know somebody else got mutated or something. The entire lake was contaminated right?"

You nodded slowly, "It was, yeah. The runoff from the Science Camp messed the whole place up. It was seriously nasty. I guess someone else could have been mutated." You paused in thought for a moment before continuing, "But I'm sure this is Gil. It _has_ to be. The scientists quarantined the area after the incident," Bonnie opened her mouth, "I checked after the news came in, just to be sure. It was one call, it's not that hard. The lake is clean now, so there's no chance there's anyone else suddenly growing scales. Maybe it's just a gut feeling, but I trust it. Still, if we need to check the camp out we can do it. I say we just come in and stop this before it gets any worse."

There were nods all around at that sentiment. Getting proper information and reconnaissance was always a popular thing at this club, but nothing seemed to beat solving these things sooner rather than later. Better to get everything done as soon as possible.

"So, how do we go about this? I suggest we just go in guns blazing, but I'm willing to listen to suggestions." Bonnie raised her hand.

"Let's torch this place and bomb the ashes." You had to admit, the idea had a certain visceral merit to it. You certainly wouldn't mind ridding the world of any trace of Wannaweep.

"Outside of the budding pyromania Mrs. Rockwaller has displayed, that option isn't without merit," said Mister B, "However, that will gain the attention of the city and, more importantly, the police. It'll be the safest option but the most obvious. On the other hand, I could call in a favor to get us some help. Section 13 would be more than willing to send a squad. It'd ruffle some feathers, especially Betty's, but it'll work _and_ draw less attention than going for pure firepower." Bonnie cut in.

"Yeah, but they totally look like black ops. If there's anything that'll trip off any danger sensors, it'd be that. I'd be fine with running from the cops, I don't think anyone here wants something like GJ or Kim coming down on us right now. It's better than going in alone."

Mr B sounded like he wanted to respond, but you knew this wouldn't really go any farther so you made sure to interrupt this argument before it started.

"OK guys, here let's go on to something a bit lighter," you changed the subject, "What did we learn during Career Week? I'll go first! I, well, there's no easy way to say this. I got supervillain training. Shego schooled me in escape and evasion, infiltration, gave me some criminal contacts, and tested me on general illegal operative stuff. 'Swhere I got the new bike. Which I have a totally legal title to mind, just the guy we got it off of was probably about half a step from an illegal arms dealer."

The room looked suitably impressed at that. That, or they were doing a good job of hiding their disgust. Josh stood up next and you nodded and headed back to your seat.

"So, I spent the week hanging with Rabbi Katz. As Ron knows, he's a pretty cool dude. Turns out he's a Monster Hunter too." What. "I got some grade A advice, really helped me get my head together and figure out some stuff. He also gave me some blessed oils and unguents which should be useful if we run up against anything that dislikes holy stuff. Oh, and he also gave me an invite to a group called the Order of Saint Adrian, which was super weird. I'm not totally sure what their deal is, os I'm still thinking it over."

Mister B stood up at that, "For the general edification of my students," he drawled, "The Order of Saint Adrian is a group of Demon Hunting Bikers with anti-demon tattoos. My old unit wasn't sure how those worked, but they were consistent and effective. Give it a solid think Mankey, it could be useful, but it's a big commitment and I'm sure Rabbi Katz will give you more information to work with if you ask."

What. Rabbi Katz was a tattooed demon hunting biker!? ON TOP OF BEING AN AWESOME RABBI?! WHAT?!

While you tried to parse that revelation out Josh returned to his seat with a thoughtful look on his face. Bonnie took his place at the front of the room.

"Captain Black was alright, I guess," she said, before turning to smirk at you, "I got to learn how to _catch_ people like the loser. I got to practice my shooting too, and this one girl made me promise to pass on her contact information. Ordinarily, I wouldn't, but she proved herself moderately cool during my week with Captain Black, so I figured why not. Plus, the idea of her interacting with the loser entertains me."

That was worrying. And Ill-boding. Definitely Ill-boding.

Bonnie smirked at you and walked back to her seat, to be replaced by Tara. "My week was great!" Tara smiled, "Mister Fenton was awesome. He gave me tons of information on ghosts and how to fight them. I'm not sure how much of it actually fits what we might be dealing with around here, but it's something. He also gave me a couple of anti-ghost weapons which should really help!"

That was cool. Given how Jazz and Mister Masters talked about it you weren't sure how useful anything from Mister Fenton was going to be, but it'd probably be better than nothing.

Tara bounced back to her seat, and Brick took the stage. "My week was AWESOME!" he cried. He pulled something from his letterman jacket and put it on his face. It was a ... _lucha mask?!_ "I got to learn Lucha! I am now El Ladrillo!" He took off the mask and grinned, "That means Brick. I got to practice with Junior, who's a pretty cool dude, and he introduced me to some of those LORE dudes you told us about Ron. Nice guys, a little stiff, but nice."

You nodded, that _was_ pretty awesome. It sounded like everyone had had a great week. Now you just had to decide how you were going to spend [i]next [/i] week.

What Do, Boss Monkey?

XxX

After the meeting ended, you headed over to stately Masters Manor for dinner. Mister Masters had invited you to see how Jazz was doing. He hadn't sounded too irritated with you for not helping this week, but you were glad to have the chance to touch base. You raced down the road on the Last Dawn as the sun was setting. You seemed to be doing a lot of that since you got the bike. It was a little weird to be driving something named after dawn at sunset, but you didn't care because you were one with the road, and not in a street pizza way!

The manor was big. Not quite the size of the Seniors' place, but fancier in some ways. The Seniors' new home looked a lot like some of the older castles and manors you'd seen in Europe on missions with Kim, the kinda place you lived if you were comfortable in your heaping piles of cash and had been for a while. Mister Masters place was designed more to impress, to overawe people who saw it. Given his other house was a literal castle brought over brick by brick from Europe you weren't two surprised.

You rang the intercom bell and security buzzed you in. It was that same wild haired greenish skinned guy who'd flown the plane to Wisconsin. He must wear a lot of different hats for Misters Masters. He directed you to the dining room, where you found Jazz and Mister Masters sitting at the table talking about her training.

"Now Jasmine, I know it may not seem like it, but truly you've made a great deal of progress!" Mister Masters said seriously. Jazz just sighed morosely in response.

"I guess," she mumbled, "I'm not phasing through anything anymore unless I mean to." She shuddered, "I was a bit irritated at first, but you were right. I _am_ glad that Ron couldn't come help until after I got my phasing totally under control."

Well, that sounds like a good segue if ever there was one.

"Why's that?" you asked curiously with a cocked head.

"RON!?" Jazz yelped in shock. You noticed that she remained completely solid as she did, which was a step up from the plane ride back from Wisconsin. Mister Masters just laughed softly and said, "There, you see?" before turning to you.

"Ah, Ronald, it's good to see you. I'm glad you took me up on my invitation."

"I was happy to come Mister Masters!" you replied with a grin, before your face went serious, "Jazz, I'm really sorry I couldn't come visit and help earlier in the week, but my Career Week mentor kinda monopolized my time. It was eat, sleep, and work all week."

"Yes, Señor Senior Senior does say that Ms Go is something of a harsh taskmistress," Mister Masters put in. "Still," he continued, "I'm sure you learned a great deal, and you're here now, aren't you?"

"Yes sir, Mister Masters," you agreed with a nod, "Here and ready to help for as long as Jazz needs me."

"Very good," Mister Masters smirked, "and do call me Vlad, Ronald, it's quite alright. I'm not your teacher or your boss, technically." His smirk widened at that last bit. "Now, let's get down to that dinner I promised you both last week!"

You sat down, and what followed was an honestly nice dinner. The food was just as good as you'd hoped, and thankfully no supernatural cheese involved! You still weren't happy about the fact that _any_ cheese would betray you like that, but this wasn't the time or the place to try and prove your mastery over strange dairy products.

You could tell that Jazz was pretty nervous to begin with, but she calmed down a bit as the night wore on without any power related mishaps. You weren't really one for fine dining, but this was pleasant. You got to talk cheese with Vlad, and double check some of Mister Fenton's info that Tara shared with the club.

Jazz jumped at the chance to learn more. It looked like having the reality of things brought home so seriously had made her really focused on fixing her ignorance. You could understand that. You'd wanted to learn as much as possible when you'd found out there were things out there that wanted to eat and/or kill you, not necessarily in that order.

After that, you talked about Jazz's training.

"So, what have you been doing this week, Jazz?" she coughed into the stew she was eating a bit nervously.

"Well, Uncle Vlad wanted me to get my phasing under control. So I had to go through my whole day without messing up or breaking anything," she sighed, "that was a lot easier said than done." Mr Masters chuckled.

"Jasmine, I wouldn't have handed you those china plates if I hadn't entertained the possibility that I might lose them. It isn't a big deal." Well, that sounded like an eventful day.

"After I got to a point where I thought I could control my shifting well enough, he added some… _interesting_ methods to my training. I will say that I'll never look at dodgeball the same way again, especially when you don't know where or when the thing is coming."

"In my defense I was always polite enough to yell dodge before tossing." Well, that was certainly… something. Jazz seemed to get the look you were giving, though.

"Yeah, I can see why Jazz might not be totally okay with that."

She gave you a grateful nod before continuing, "I still haven't really gotten the phasing down one hundred percent yet, but I'm doing a lot better than I was on the plane ride!" Which was punctuated by her spoon falling back into the meal. "Yeah, like that. But I'm far enough that we'll be able to start more intensive training sessions." Mr. Masters nodded.

"It will begin with some light sparring, to see where Jasmine's skill level lies. I've prepared a small arsenal of training weapons for the two of you to use during the week," He sipped at the tea he was prepared to go with the meal, "Of course, I will also try and train your own supernatural abilities, Ronald. It would be the least I can do." Yeah, the sounde-

Wait, WHAT?!

"HOW'D YOU KNOW I HAVE THAT?"

"RON HAS WHAT?!"

Both Jazz and yourself were standing towards Mr. Masters, who chuckled into his drink.

"Ronald, I've known ever since the incident that changed Jasmine. Though you didn't know it, I think you used your whatever it is back then. It was… rather _obvious_ from my perspective. Once I knew to look for something, it wasn't hard to find it again. Which is why I'm offering my assistance. After all, you're helping Jasmine and I expect you'll start to grow alongside her regardless of what I do." Well, that made some sense, though Jazz was still looking at you in shock.

"YOU HAVE SUPERPOWERS?! Why didn't you tell me this before?" You shrugged.

"Would you have believed me?" She sighed and deflated with a flat 'no'. It was around then that the green-haired servant brought in your third course. It was a nice slice of pie, with a small, ragged white flag planted in the middle that had eyes and a mouth painted on. You looked up at your host in confusion. He nodded to himself.

"Come on, I've heard this _boo_ berry pie is delicious." You chuckled a bit while Jazz looked nonplussed.

"Ron, don't encourage him. He's only going to get worse." You gave a sly grin to your pen pal.

"Oh come on, Jazz. Won't you let yourself have some fun here? Can't you at least give a _ghost_ of a smile for us?" From the other side of the table, Mr, Masters snorted while she rolled her eyes to the heavens.

"I'm going to have to deal with this for a while, aren't I?" Both of you nodded as you dug into the masterpiece. Once that was finished, you said a polite goodbye and headed home so you could finally get some rest.

You had a big week ahead of you tomorrow.

 **Achievement gained- They See me Rolling (and possibly screaming): Gain a car or similar method of transportation of your own! Reward: +1 Free Time actions.**


	26. Week 12 pt 1- Weeping Wounds

Monday dawned overcast and cloudy. Technically, the first day of school vacation had been a couple days ago, but this was your first day really feeling it. You'd still been dealing with Shego's 'mentoring' over the weekend, but now, now you were free! Mostly anyway. You had some important stuff to do this week, but that was for later. Today, you were just going to hang with Kim.

Means of transportation aside, your day started off like most had once upon a time. You got on your transportation and headed over to the Possibles. Mrs Dr P greeted you at the door like she always did, with a smile and a nod, and Mr Dr P was doing the same thing he did every morning, relaxing and reading his paper. You could hear Jim and Tim playing around with something in the garage, even this early in the morning you could hear the distinct type of explosive sound that signified some sort of rocketry experiment. The only thing missing was Kim, but then she was never really a morning person.

You sat at the breakfast table and enjoyed some grade A homecooking from Mrs Dr P while you waited.

"We haven't seen you around much the last month or two Ron, how have you been?" She asked as she passed the eggs.

"Ah yeah, I've been pretty busy lately, sorry about not coming over as much!"

"We heard Ronald," Mr Dr P put in from behind his paper, "Kimmie was very impressed that your grades have improved so much! It's good to hear you're finally applying yourself!"

"Yes, we were just a bit concerned you were keeping things balanced. We know Kim's had some trouble with that, and we didn't want to see you have the same problems." Mrs Dr P had been worried about you? That was nice of her.

"I've got things under control Mrs Dr P," you replied, "I just have _a lot_ more going on now than I ever did before. But hey, it's winter vacation now! I've got _way_ less demands now so I thought I'd spend some time with Kim now that I can!"

"Ron!" Speak of the devil. And hey she's hugging you, that's cool. Kim looked at your shoulder closely and nodded happily. "Wow, I guess Drakken actually knows what he's doing sometimes!"

"Drakken?!" her parents chimed in. Oh, this wasn't going to end well.

"Yeah, Ron kinda jumped on a metaphorical grenade for me last week. He distracted Shego and kept her away from anybody else at school during Career week," Kim frowned, "Unfortunately, she wasn't exactly Mentor of the Year material. She got Ron hurt and then rather than take him to a hospital or something she took him to _Drakken_ of all people!" Kim Shuddered, and her parents were looking preeetty worried. Luckily, she caught that and kept talking.

"Apparently, Drakken's got medical training Mom. He's got a Paramedic license and everything," Kim shrugged, "I wouldn't trust it, but Ron's dressing looked good, and there's no evidence he was even scratched now, so I'm not going to worry about it."

She cocked her head, "Well, unless Ron starts mutating into some kind of mutant beaver or something."

You all had a good laugh at that, though given what you've been dealing with at Kim's side and away from it, it probably wasn't something you should dismiss. Mutants were way more common than most people thought.

After that, Kim sat down and ate, and you just soaked in the atmosphere of Chez Possible. It was good to spend time with Kim again like this. So good in fact, that you ended up spending the whole day with her.

The two of you hung out around Middleton, saved some hikers lost in the Rockies, and just generally did Ron and Kim friend stuff. Hanging at the mall, responding to some relatively local hits on her site, and the two of you even got some time in the old treehouse. Man, that thing was built to last! It'd been too long since you'd had a good old fashioned day with Kim.

You'd almost forgotten how much fun you had hanging with Kim, and as the day wore on you could see the tension drain out of her. She'd started the morning with a running tackle hug, so you knew she wasn't at her best. Thankfully, it looked like just spending some time doing normal stuff was enough to get her back on an even keel. You saw her smile more as things moved from morning to night, and you were glad you'd taken the time to hang out with her.

The day ended at Bueno Nacho and you were grande sizing everything. It'd been way too long since you'd been able to splurge on fast food with your best bud. You hadn't really talked about anything heavy so far, but now was probably the best time.

"Hey Kim?" you asked cautiously as she tore into her salad.

"Yes, Ron?" she replied after swallowing her rabbit food, "What's up?"

"Today was awesome KP. We really should hang out more often." She smiled, and rolled her eyes.

"You know Ron, we actually CAN do that. We just have to schedule better. We've both got got tons of extracurriculars going on now, but still you know what my dad says.

"Anything's possible for a Possible," you chorused with her.

"Yeah, I guess," you sighed, "I just wish I had more time this week. I think the best I'm gonna be able to manage during break is maybe a meal a day. Usually breakfast."

"You have _that_ much stuff already planned?" Kim asked, dismayed.

"Mister B is not letting up KP!" you cried out in response, "I have paperwork, club activities, and god only knows what else! How do you deal with the time constraints?!"

"Well Ron," Kim chuckled, "Mostly I was just careful. Remember when I almost went nuts trying to stop Bonnie from taking the Cheer Captain spot from me?"

You thought for a moment, "That week we were dealing with Agent Du? Aka Mister Super Straitlaced?"

"Mhm," Kim hummed, "I was totally losing it until I stopped for a minute and just relaxed. Bonnie didn't have the work ethic she'd need to keep up with all the responsibilities being Cheer Captain comes with. I took a really important lesson from that."

"What was it KP? I could use the advice!"

"Don't stress about what you can't do. Try and take things as they come and always do your best, but don't freak out if things don't go your way."

You raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Really KP? You practicing what you preach?"

"Ehhhh," Kim said a guilty laugh, "I haven't always? But it's still always something I _try_ to keep in mind. Just do what you can Ron, and if something's too much, then let it go until you can deal with it."

Hmm. You rolled that around in your head for a bit, while you watched Rufus attempt to drown himself in cheese while Ned was occupied in the back. Good advice! Maybe things wouldn't get to you as much if you kept it in mind. Freaking out only made things worse after all, if you'd learned nothing else in the last few weeks, you'd learned that.

"OK KP," You nodded firmly, "I'll give it a shot! No promises how well I'll do, but I'll try!"

"Great Ron! And I'm glad we'll at least have some more hang out time this week," Kim sighed, "Even if it's a bit less than I might hope." Kim got up, having finished her salad while you were thinking and headed to throw out her trash.

You hurried up behind her, and tossed your own dinner detritus out before wrapping an arm around her in a one armed hug, "Kim, you're my best friend. No matter what else changes, that never will."

Kim hugged you back as the two of you headed out the door, "Thanks Ron, I'm glad to hear it."

You promenaded back to your bike, and she looked at it closely, "You're sure I can't drive this thing?"

"Sorry KP," you said as you passed her her helmet, "If you want to drive the Ronshine you need the right license!" Completely ignoring the fact that your license was less than one hundred percent illegal you whistled for Rufus who came running out of Bueno Nacho covered in cheese with Ned yelling at him, "Come back here and take your medicine like a man you rodent!"

Rufus ran up to your shoulder and shook off the remaining cheese, making you and Kim wince away. You shrugged, high fived the little dude, and got on your bike. Kim swung on behind you, grabbed onto you and you shot into the night.

Not a bad end to a badical day!

XxX

The next morning you managed to have breakfast with Kim again. It was nice, even if she did seem a bit down that you were only available for breakfast. Still, you had a good time, and you thought that Mr and Mrs Dr P were reassured you were going to be around a bit more. Having parental types actively interested in you in a positive way was always a good thing. Your parents weren't around this week, having left for an emergency actuarial conference in sunny Acapulco. They'd probably be back by New Years. It was disappointing, but not all bad.

Hego had called and left a message last night, telling you to show up at the Middleton Municipal Jetport at 9, so after you finished your bacon and eggs, mmm bacon, you drove over on your scooter. It wouldn't be right to just leave Last Dawn in the Jetport parking lot after all.

You weren't sure what to expect, but a white supersonic jet covered in splashes of red, blue, purple, and green was not it. It looked like something one of the more corporate controlled pop groups would use, designed to look cool, but not... really actually cool. It wasn't bad though!

The hatch over the cockpit opened up, and you saw Mego inside. He threw a ladder down over the side and gestured for you to climb up. You did, and he sighed as you clambered into one of the seats. "I'm the only one besides Shego who's got a certification to fly this thing anymore. Hego's too busy with his 'career' to keep up his pilot's license." He shrugged, "Still, this means you get to spend half an hour hearing all about me!" You cringed.

This was going to be a long flight.

XxX

By the time you landed on the Go Tower you were ready to claw your eyes out. Mego would Not Shut Up about himself. Dear god was his name apt. Every time you tried to get a word in edgewise he'd just steamroll right over you. It'd gotten so bad that Rufus was curled up in your pocket, whimpering!

Finally, you touched down on a landing platform that extended from the top of the Go Tower. After the jet was fully stopped, the ramp retracted, and you realized that the whole landing strip retracted into the Tower. You'd totally missed the pod bay doors last time, and the jet slowly descended into the tower on top of an elevator.

Once the elevator had stopped, the hatch popped open and you leapt out of the cockpit. FREEDOM! SWEET FREEDOM! Unfortunately, there wasn't a ladder this time so you had to flail a bit as you fell a couple meters. Thankfully, your recent training in learning how to actually handle yourself meant you didn't injure yourself, but you didn't cut the smoothest figure.

"We'll have to work on your landings," you heard a voice say. You turned and saw Hego standing there, one hand around his chin, "Proper appearances are a very important part of Superheroing!"

You could already tell this was going to be... interesting.

Hego lead you down to the training area, and Mego followed with an unpleasant smirk on his face. You found the twins already there, running through an obstacle course of some kind. The room looked like a full combat gym. You'd seen this kind of thing at Global Justice bases before with Kim, usually right before she took them on and utterly wrecked all of the gym records. Rather than direct you to any of the weights, the lap ring, or the obstacle course, Hego turned to you and explained what the plan was.

"Alright, our plan for today is to see where you stand. According to Shego, you've got some kind of superhuman awareness. Do you have any other abilities that are more than human?"

You thought about that for a minute. You're pretty fit, but out and out superhero stunts tend to be more Kim's thing than yours. Still, there's one or two things you should probably mention here.

"The first time I got my powers I could do some serious martial arts. I'm not exactly super trained at those. I went to some of the same lessons as Kim, but I haven't kept up with it like she has. Other than that, there was this weird dream I had. Normally, I can't remember much about my dreams, but this one was really vivid."

"Go on," Hego gestured for you to continue.

"There was this ancient temple and I had to pick from one of three different weapons, each of which was glowing with a different color. I ended up picking a handgun that shone with the light of the sun."

"Hm," Hego murmured, "Yellow then, that would fit." He turned to where the twins had just finished the Obstacle Course and motioned for them to come over.

"Mister Stoppable," he said firmly, "We have no real idea what your powers may be. As I said, we're going to see where you stand. To that end we're going to have you do a little bit of everything here, and see where your baseline is for physical activity. We'll warm you up on some laps and a bit of light weight training, and then, once you've got yourself going, you'll run the obstacle course a few times."

"Sounds... good," you guessed, "Any restrictions I should be aware of?"

"Not at present," Hego replied, "I'll let you know if anything comes up. Now, to the running course!"

What followed was excruciating. You ran until your legs couldn't run, lifted until your arms wanted to fall off, and generally got pushed to your physical limits in a way that you would have avoided like the plague for most of your life. And it got you bupkiss! Nada! No super powers were forthcoming! The most you managed was a few intrigued grunts and some note taking in the peanut gallery!

At least Hego was encouraging about it. He was always very positive about things, and kept you invested in actually trying at this. Mego wandered in and out, reading Hego's notes over his shoulder now and then. The twins left early on, but promised to come back to watch the grand finale. That turned out to be a run through the Superhero Obstacle Training System at the maximum speed your tortured limbs could manage.

You dodged, you weaved, you shot the head off a couple of shady looking dummies. Overall, you thought you did fairly well. Hego was a bit more ambivalent about it.

"I understand that Shego is the one that trained you, and she's always favored pragmatism and long ranged combat, but guns are not a proper superheroic tool! It's far too easy to seriously injure an opponent if you're using firearms!" That was kinda the reason you were using them. Seriously injuring and killing man-eating monsters was your job description after all. Still, you could see where Hego was coming from, and you took his suggestions with good grace. He was helping you on his own time after all.

Sadly, even the SOTS didn't produce results. By the end of the day, all you had to show for yourself were bumps, bruises, and a lot of muscle fatigue. Hego made some reassuring noises about his notes, but you felt things had kinda been a bust. Maybe they'd go better in the future, now that Team Go knew what you could do.

Mego flew you home, and you drove your scooter slowly back to your house your muscles complaining at every sharp movement. Once you were back at Chez Stoppable you showered, and collapsed into bed. If nothing else, you'd gotten some serious exercise today.

XxX

"So then Brick, my friend, what truly brings you to the home of Senor Senior Junior on this Mid-winter's day? Surely it was not merely the urge to indulge in manly wrestling?

"I wanted to ask if you were interested in joining the club at school?"

"The Club of Hunting? While I can understand the utility of regular practice with firearms, I do not have much interest in the shooting of fluffy bunnies and such animals."

Piledriver!

"Alright I'm going to come right out and say it man. You know the supernatural exists right?" Junior rolled his eyes as if that was a dumb question, as he wormed his way out of Brick's grab.

"But of course! My primary tutor in villainy can shoot flaming blasts of hot plasma in a shade of color that should not exist in nature! It is blatantly obvious that there is more to the world than even superscience can explain!" Brick found himself subjected to a tight hold.

"Huh, cool. That makes this easier. So the club? The Hunting Club? S'not for hunting animals. S'for hunting monsters." Junior's armbar went lax as his face drooped in shock.

"EL CHUPACABRA IS REAL!?" Brick shrugged as he rolled out of the way.

"Uh... dunno about that man, but we have killed two vampires and got a changeling thief arrested?" The two men circled each other, each looking for an opening.

"Most impressive my friend! But why would you seek my aid? Am I not a paragon of Villainy?"

"Oh totally dude, Ron just wanted me to sound you out for it." Junior stopped circling, almost going limp at some revelation.

"My RIVAL!? What has _He_ to do with this?"

"Oh he founded the club, and he's president." Junior's reply was almost immediate.

"Then I shall join your club!" Brick stopped positioning himself to tackle the man, and raised a single index finger high into the air.

"OK, but ...why?"

"Because if my rival is leader of this club then I too shall hunt that which threatens all of mankind! I will not allow him to move ahead of me by honing his skill against supernatural predators while I do not! The gap would be immeasurable before long! Such would be INTOLERABLE!"

"...Cool."

Junior nodded.

"I am, yes. Now, I believe there is paperwork we must do?"

XxX

It was Wednesday and this afternoon was briefing time. Viv had e-mailed the club her findings, sparse as they were, and you were going over them at the School parking lot where you'd all congregated before heading over to the place of evil.

You'd printed out part of it, a map, and were using it as a visual aide to help with your explanations. You pointed out the various camps, Clown Camp, Band Camp, Science Camp, and the nexus of darkness itself, Camp Wannaweep.

The map helped a lot with your planning, but beyond that information had been scarce. The only thing of note that Viv had found was a recently filed missing persons report by Doctor Lurkin, the mutation expert who'd taken custody of Gill after you'd saved the cheer squad from him. According to the good doctor, Gill was one hundred percent human again, but he'd just not not come home from school the Friday before break. Viv's briefing included a picture of Gill, or maybe Gil, in human form, skinny, black hair, olive skin, and a swimmer's build, as well as some mugshots of mutant Gill, taller, muscled, scaled, and oozing swamp muck.

You didn't know what Gil(l?) was planning but if he'd only just run away from home he couldn't be too far into his plans. The fact that he hadn't had time to create a super mutant army certainly raised morale in the parking lot, and you all piled into your respective vehicles and made for the horrific abomination that was... Camp Wannaweep.

The drive itself wasn't too terrible- you didn't get thrown off the road into the mouth of hell again for one- and the view itself was pretty nice at sunset for the most horrible place on earth ever since the scientists cleaned up the lake. Your bike wasn't coming along right now, you didn't want to risk associating your beautiful ride with a damned place such as this. Instead, you found yourself in the middle of Tara's van, as the blonde hummed the latest Britina hit to herself. Bonnie sat passenger side, trying her best not to get the earworm stuck in her head was you sort of silently allowed yourself to get through panicking now.

You tried to do your best to control the sinking feeling in your gut as your group piled into the forsaken hell that was Camp Wannaweep. Alongside Tara's van was Mr. Barkin's army surplus Humvee, and the nondescript car Shego used when she went to work at Middleton High. The five of you were already in your Henchco gear, and with a quick raid on Mr. B's truck, each of you that needed them were carrying the assault rifles with flashlight you'd insisted on bringing along. Each of you had two extra magazines ready in case you ran out, though you didn't really think that was likely.

Since you had a lot of area to cover, the five of you split into two pairs with Tara as backup. Mr. B and Bonnie would sweep through the place from the bottom, going towards the accursed Lake and searching the resident's cabins. You would work with Shego from the top of the Camp, moving down through the arts and crafts area you knew so well. Tara would wait at the van, ready to get all of you out as fast as possible if things went wrong. You always needed to have an evacuation prepared if you wanted to fight crazy swamp monsters! Each of you drew your masks up, and turned on the lights you'd attached to the bottom of your guns before setting out towards your objective. Tara raised her gun and gave all of you a thin smile, silently wishing all of you luck as you walked into the worst place on earth.

As you walked through the blasted swamplands of the camp, you looked through the doors for any signs of use, or even simply movement. You swore you saw something out of the corner of your eyes before, something sickly green and totally gill-like. Of course, when you turned your flashlight there you only saw a sickly-looking fern, but it was a _menacing_ , sickly looking piece of foliage. After that, you didn't really get anything else of note. There were a few animals moving around, but nothing actually mutated that you could see. The first building both of you barged into was similarly cleared. The mess hall right next to it was also pretty much empty, though there had been signs of some squirrels eating whatever nasty excuse for food was left in the pantry. It was probably those demonic little rodents that always seemed to find their way into the cabins when everyone was getting ready for bed. Shego was next to you, uncharacteristically silent compared to her normal self. She seemed tense, almost like she could feel something was just _wrong_ with the place like you always could. Maybe it was just the supernatural stuff, but it did help calm you down a little bit.

You weren't the only one getting weirded out here. Going through the boat shed, you continued to find a funny lack of pretty much anything happening, though on your walk to the next building a racoon family walked close enough to hiss at you before walking towards the mess hall, presumably to exercise their own terrible taste in garbage. Next was the only place you'd really liked, or at least hadn't actively hated, during your stay at this hellhole- the Arts and Crafts Cabin. It was a nice little place far away from most of the horrors of this place. As your flashlight passed through one of the windows, you found a silhouette of something inside. With a small motion, the two of you were at the door. Shego moved her right hand to her lips and let out a sharp whistle for Bonnie and Mr. B to hear before the two of you opened to do-

 _Green_.

You gun opened up on instinct at the scales your flashlight revealed. Sadly, you'd twitched a bit too wildly and the bullets sprayed out towards a lab kit in the back of the room. The sound of shattering glass was accompanied by a small blast of green plasma that almost hit the thing, had it not been smart enough to get out of the way. The thing launched itself at Shego, but she just grabbed the creepy thing mid-jump and tossed it back into the cabin.

While it was down, you unloaded a small burst into the thing. It made sounds of pain, and you could see some greyish-red blood flowing from where you'd hit it, but they didn't just finish the thing off like you'd expected. Shego took the opportunity you'd made to stomp on the thing a few times for good measure until all the fight in the thing was gone.

It whimpered from the spot on the floor where it was laying as you walked up to it. The creature was strange, something you hadn't seen before. The scales in the thing were similar to the ones Gil had, but different. Thicker, maybe. Possibly darker too. It was honestly pretty creepy, and something beyond your mind just scratched at you as wrong as the things wheezed below you and shifted a little, showing off a small glint of bronze worked into the shape of two bones with the word _Chopper_ engraved on it. You felt a bit of bile rising into your throat.

A dog. It was a mutated dog. This wasn't some freak accident either. The collar was still on the pet, so it probably didn't just wander into a the taint of Wannaweep. No, someone had to do this, intentionally.

Gil.

Shego cringed at the realization but otherwise remained calm. The mutated creature looked up at you with a single, sickly yellow slitted eye. You pushed down whatever remorse you felt for the thing as you lifted your gun straight to it's head, flicked the firing mode to semi-automatic and ended its life in a shot. It was the most merciful thing you thought you could do.

Behind you, Bonnie made some retching noises into the area right next to the stairs. She probably lost whatever dinner she'd had beforehand. She pulled out a napkin to clean some vomit off of her face before haggardly looking at you with a mixed expression in her eyes. You weren't exactly sure she knew what she was feeling right now. Whatever it was, though, it probably wasn't great.

Mr Barkin… well, he seemed to have left the building. He was standing there, staring at the dog with a far-off look in his eye. You moved towards him, but he jerked away from you at the last second. There wasn't any outbursts or even emotions running through his face. He simply turned around and started walking away, ambling towards the vehicles. You followed him, hoping to see if something was up.

"Hey, Mr B? You okay?" No response. "You there?" Nothing. Walking along, you finally made it back to the cars. Mr. B simply opened to door to his Humvee and sat there, staring out into space.

"Hey Loser, where's Tara?" Bonnie almost made you jump. You hadn't thought she'd followed you back. You scanned the vehicles quickly to confirm what she had said, and surely enough Tara was not there. You looked around the van she was in when you pulled up. As you walked towards the driver's seat, you heard a small thump as your foot collided with something on the ground.

It was her gun. The sinking feeling that you'd had in your gut grew a little bit larger. You'd been pretty thorough in your search, so you were pretty sure that meant Gil couldn't be in the camp. That really only left one place in the area.

You gripped your rifle a bit harder and turned towards the dark, foreboding woods in on the other side of the Camp. Bonnie understood what you meant, and started walking into the thick, dark foliage of the place with her flashlight at the ready. Coming from farther away, Shego advanced towards the forest, her green glowing hands providing an eerie light. You looked over to Mr. B, who seemed totally out of it, and sighed. He'd probably beat himself up over this later, but you really didn't have any other choice. You left him behind to follow your other companions.

The place was even creepier than the rest of the damnable camp. You could hear animals everywhere, though none of them sounded anything resembling natural or normal. Everywhere you turned, you saw small flashes of the sickly green color you knew indicated Gil or the creatures like him. You kept Bonnie and Shego in sight, making sure you knew nothing would happen to them right now as they looked through the cursed forest. After couple of minutes spent doing nothing but walking and extensively looking through the gaps between the trees, you finally managed to hear something.

Someone was talking. Your pace picked up to track the noise, and your two companions fell in behind you. A few seconds later, you came upon a clearing to see your enemy.

A thickly scaled Gil, with Tara suspended on a wooden board over a green pool that looked _waaaay_ too much like the lake for you comfort. To his side were three more green-scaled creatures, eat looking menacingly at you while he ranted.

"You're just a SQUEEB! Your mutation will be the beginning of my revenge on Stoppable! The first of many! The perfection of mutation is the future! Congratulations! You'll be my-"

Bonnie stepped forward and accidentally snapped a twig, stopping Gil short. He turned to you with a menacing smile on his face.

"Well, hello. The Head Squeeb. How _are_ you doing, Ronnie?" You snarled.

"Let her go, Gil. Do that and no one gets hurt." He laughed, a cruel, nasty thing.

"Why would I want that, squeeb? The pretty lady here is going to serve a pretty important purpose, you know. You see, after you and your little friends caught me I came to an epiphany," He motioned to himself, "I _like_ being Gill the swamp monster. I realized that people like me are the next step in humanity's evolution. My adoptive father didn't agree, of course, but he was more than willing to teach an eager young scientist. A few months in, and I managed to save a few useful samples of the swamp water from the cleanup. And then I got a little curious, you know? So I tested it on a squirrel that I caught in my adoptive father's yard," He pointed to one of the freaky little things, "the results speak for themselves! After that I couldn't help but see how far I could go. Now, I figured out my true purpose: I SHALL REMAKE THE WORLD IN MY OWN IMAGE!" Well, that was certainly disturbing. And unusually over the top for Gil.

"Gil, you need help." He cackled.

"No, I don't think I do. Now the-" One of the animals started to growl, the largest one out of the three. Before Gil could stop it, the mutant jumped straight towards you. Luckily, your arm already snapped to the thing and before it made it halfway to you there was an assault rifle bullet going through it's head. Gil looked at the thing, dumbstruck. After a few more seconds, he looked back to you.

"YOU BROUGHT ASSAULT RIFLES?! WHO DOES THAT?!" You pointed the thing at him.

"Someone who knows what he was going up against, that's who. Now let Tara go." He paused in shock for a few seconds, before adopting the same creepy grin.

"Okay, I can release her." Well, that was gre-

He pushed the wooden thing forward and Tara flew into into the tainted muck with a splash.

"GET THEM!" He shouted to the squirrels before running away from the group of you. The first one jumped towards Shego only to be caught and burned with a horrendous stench that threw your aim off on the second once, that attached itself to you. Bonnie, meanwhile ran towards the Lagoon, trying to pull Tara out. The scaly squirrel tried to bite you and claw at your skin, but you kept shifting around enough that it couldn't hit you. Your little dance continued until you felt a powerful thump and a small splattering on your back. You looked behind your shoulder to see Shego looking at you with a small smile on her face. Rolling your eyes, you tried your best to ignore the gross feeling seeping down your back.

"You go right, I'll go left. Let's get him." She nodded, bolting into the woods at a slight angle while you went at away from her. You moved as fast as you could while keeping yourself alert. You tried to find any flash of Gil's green as you charged throughout the forest. You saw something out of the corner of your eyes, and in response your gun barked out, hitting a mutated rat instead of Gil. With an angry sigh, you continued searching around and continued through the brush. A few minutes later, you saw a small rustle in a shrub five feet away. You saw another flash of sickly green, and you switched the rifle to automatic. With a snarl, you unloaded five bullets toward the bush. The cry of pain was enough to signal your guess was correct. As Gil stumbled out into the open, you snarled.

You were going to _end_ his little reign of terror. He seemed pretty banged up from the stuff, with a few cuts that oozed red across his skin but nothing too serious. You started to fire, but he knew what you were doing and rolled out of the way.

"You're going to have to try harder than that, squeeb." He growled at you, before lunging towards you. You tried to dodge to the best of your ability, but you knew you were getting tired as two scaled fists impacted into your stomach. You reeled back, firing off a few rounds you weren't surprised wouldn't hit before rolling away from your enemy. He flew forwards in a diving tackle, pinning you to the ground and throwing your rifle to the side. His fists impacted on your face over and over, breaking your nose and probably a few teeth. He tried to land a few more hits, hoping to knock you out, but a pair of fiery green hands grabbed his back before he could throw those punches. With a single motion, Shego threw Gil against a tree and followed up with a kick squarely in the stomach. He weakly raised a hand to stop her assault, but she slapped the thing down with a claw of plasma, before grabbing his head. With a ripping noise, the fight was over.

"WAIT, I SURRENDER!" You looked back to where Gil's corpse should have been, revealing an entirely human head beneath what must have been a _very_ life-like suit. You wiped some of the blood trickling down your face with your left hand while your right pulled out one of the pistols and pointed it squarely at his forehead. Gil seemed eerily calm about the whole matter.

"Let's just get this over with. Call GJ and take me away. The game's over, squeeb," Your grip tightened.

"This isn't a game, Gil. You were hurting people, threatening my _friends_. I won't just let that fly."Gil laughed.

"Come on, Ron, we both know that isn't in you," You didn't move and his eyes widened a little bit, "You can't just do that, man. This isn't how this is supposed to go."

Your grip slacked a bit, and he smiled.

"This will be just another mission. Just call GJ so they can sort everything out." Yeah, Gil could get arrested by Dr Director's people. Your pulled the gun back a bit more.

"It'll just be like any other supervillain. Let me serve my time." A small voice in the back of your head kept your hands where they were, though. A tiny little fact itched in the back of your head.

Would you go through the motions, only to fight him again? Because that was how you knew that would go.

"Look man, just make the right decision," He smiled weakly, "Just like Kim would." Yeah, he was right. You would make the right decision.

You…

[] Tell Shego to call GJ.

[] Fired the pistol.


	27. Week 12 pt2: Aftermath

It was simple. One little tug. A small motion.

God, you'd never expected there would be so much blood. Gil lay on the floor, with a dull look of shock in his dying eyes. He put a hand up to his neck, using what little strength he had left in an attempt to staunch the flow coming out of him. You could already feel your eyes welling up, even as your body began to reject the act you'd just committed. With the squelch of a poorly placed foot, you lost the battle against your innards. Turning to the side, you violently heaved out what remained of your lunch as the first salty tear drifted down your eyes.

Internally, you knew you'd done the best thing you could. The logical part of you knew that you'd done what was best. He wouldn't stop trying to hurt you and your friends, and you couldn't trust GJ to keep the reins on him long enough. No, if you needed to keep everyone safe, you'd needed to do that.

But why did it have to hurt so much?

A warm hand rubbed on your back. You looked up to see Shego who was… not exactly sympathetic looking, but less scowly than usual. She didn't say anything, which was probably for the best, she just stood there while you processed what happened. When you finally felt decent enough to stand on your own, you straightened up and turned around. You didn't want to see the body any more, and you had more important issues to deal with.

With a stilted stride, you made your way back to the damned pool. You'd definitely have to make sure Mr. B sent a tip out to some of his friends to clean that mess up. When you entered the clearing, Bonnie was sitting down near a tree, gasping from exertion. When she turned to you, it was apparent that she had been crying as well. Next to her was the wooden rack, dominated by a strange furred form.

Tara. You ran to check up on her, but from what you could tell she wasn't really all together. Apparently the goop did more than give people scales and such, though you weren't sure whether that was good or bad right now. The only thing you knew was that she needed help. You whipped out your phone as fast as you could, before quickly typing in the number to call GJ. You were about to press the button when a thought hit you.

You'd just killed a person, and he was lying in that forest. They couldn't know that. You knew they wouldn't take what you did well, and you didn't want to spend time answering questions when one of your friends needed help. Mrs. Dr. P was right out, too. You didn't want to tell her about what happened and you knew that if you wanted to help Tara, you'd need to talk. If she knew what happened, it was a matter of time before Kim would figure out.

That… didn't leave you with a lot of option, regrettably. Luckily, you weren't totally out of luck. There was one person you could try contacting, who would probably work for you. Punching in the number as fast as you could, you held the cell up to your face as the ring buzz into your ear. You were about to put the thing down after the four droning sound finished, only to hear the sound of someone picking up on the other end.

"Dr. Drakken, evil genius and mad scientist. WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" The yell wasn't warranted, but you stuck through it.

"This is Ron, I need your help." There was silence at the other end of the phone line. In your peripheral, you saw Bonnie beginning to push the wooden cart back to your vehicles.

"... Who?" You sighed.

"Shego's apprentice from last week." He'd probably remember that.

"That _does_ ring a bell. I think I remember you. You were that excellent example case for Kim Possible, correct?"

"Yeah." You spat out almost instantly.

"What exactly do you need my illustrious help for, buffoon?" Wait, yeah. He probably expected something superhero-y or criminal. Well, not that this was entirely out of the former.

"A friend of mine got hurt really badly and I need someone to help them without asking too many questions." You could almost hear him nodding on the other side of the phone.

"Of course, and you went to the most professional assistance you could get. I respect that. Give me your location and I'll be there as soon as I can." Okay, this seemed pretty good so far.

"I'm at Camp Wannaweep, a little bit south of Lowerton. The place reeks of evil, you can't miss it. We'll be near the cluster of vehicles."

"Good. I'll be there in around ten minutes." He hung up and you were left back where you started, around the cluster of cars. Mr. Barkin was still just sitting in his driver's seat, though he seemed more relaxed than before. Shego had gotten into her car, looking more bored than anything. Bonnie was sitting next to Tara, doing her best to look strong. You walked up to where she was and sat down on the grass beside her.

"Everything okay, Bonnie?" She turned to you with a deep sneer

"My best friend is a goddamn mutant. What do you fucking think, Loser? " Well, that was certainly… well, it was something. At least she hadn't tried shooting you.

"Okay, so you're not doing so hot. Look, I'm sorry. I thought this would have been a lot less dangerous than it actually was. I didn't think it would have turned into… this." She gave out a bitter cackle in response.

"Of course not. I don't think any of us did. But it sucks to feel so powerless, especially when your buddies at GJ are just going to come again and pick the freak up just like they did last time." She sighed.

"Well… I wouldn't exactly say that." She laughed, right in you face. It was a loud, cruel thing you could tell was fueled more by grief than anything else.

"What, are you going to tell me with a straight face that you, Ron Stoppable, had the guts to kill that monster? I'll believe it when I see it." You pointed to the forest.

"Then go check for yourself." She went silent, looking you straight in the eye. She looked for something in there, though you weren't sure what. After a few seconds more, she nodded.

"Good." And that was that. You'd have continued the conversation, but you weren't really sure what to say. A few more minutes were spent just sitting there, before the sound of a familiar hovercraft touching down echoed throughout the area. The familiar figure of the blue mad scientist clambered out the machine, and approached you.

"Bufoon. Where is the injured person." You pointed to Tara's furred form and he moved to her. He examined her, doing a bunch of things you really weren't sure would help with anything before he walked back to you.

"Your furred friend is fine, Buffoon. What exactly is the problem?" You stopped the urge to pinch the bridge of your nose.

"The fur and stuff _is_ the problem, Dr. D. She was turned into that against her will. I was wondering if you you could do anything to fix what happened." He massaged his chin while looking over your altered companion.

"I'll see what I can do, but I'm going to need to take her back to my lair for a comprehensive medical exam." He started pushing the cart carrying Tara towards the hovercraft when Bonnie shot up and looked at the two of you.

"Where are you creeps taking her?" You sighed. Better head this off before there was a fight.

"Dr. Drakken here is going to help cure Tara. He's one of the few people I know that _can_ help her," She remained nonplussed about the idea of having a supervillain care for her, "and I know he will do nothing but his utmost to make things better, _right_ , Dr D?" He looked at you for a moment with confusion in his eyes until he got the point your were basically nailing him over the head with a 2-by-4 with. He turned to Bonnie.

"Yes, of course. Young lady, you friend shall get the best help, from the greatest genius, mad scientist and medical professional in the WORLD! I assure you that I will do whatever is necessary to make sure the furry person here is… less furry as soon as that can be achieved. You will be able to visit, of course." That seemed enough for her to put her at ease, and she reluctantly let Dr. D move the bound girl. As he set off, she looked over to you.

"You better hope he knows what he's doing, Stoppable. If not, I _will_ get even for Tara." Well, that was certainly an unpleasant thought! Though, funnily enough, you actually trusted Drakken with this. He seemed professional enough when he wasn't grandstanding. In retrospect, it explained why he'd been able to turn out doomsday devices at what felt like a weekly pace. Once that was finished, Shego drove off. Bonnie wasn't far after her, taking Tara's car back to her parent's house (and hopefully coming up with some plausible explanation as to why their daughter wasn't in it). That left Mr. B's humvee, which you took a seat in.

He seemed… better than he was before. He wasn't catatonic, and he certainly responded to your opening the door. When you sat down, he started up the car. He made as little noise as you thought was humanly possible when doing so, though. It was honestly kind of creepy.

"Mr B?" He remained silent as he moved out of the camp. And through the roads. When he finally pulled up outside of your house, he deigned to speak.

"I'm sorry about my actions tonight, it wasn't very professional of me. If you want to talk about what happened, my door is always open." He still seemed like he wasn't totally there, but you'd probably take him up on his offer. Maybe you'd be able to get a good read on what happened to him, and maybe he'd be able to help you. You thought about it as you walked back into your house. A small part of you thanked god that Mom and Dad weren't there to ask questions as you stripped off the slightly bloodstained outfit and slipped into bed.

Two hours of uncomfortable shifting later, you finally fell asleep.

XxX

Thursday dawned with a solemn glow, the stabbing rays of sunlight that lanced through your bedroom window almost failed to wake you up for once. It was only with the low whine of your alarm clock that you finally started to stir.

You really just wanted to curl up in your best burrito impression and lie there, but after two hits of the snooze button you knew you'd had to get up. You needed more sleep right now, especially when what little you'd got had been plagued by nightmares of crimson scales, rotting corpses and a screaming monkey. Sadly, you had things you _needed_ to do today, and that meant that you were showering right now, rather than waiting until the world didn't seem so cold. Rufus was up preparing a simple breakfast. He'd seen how you looked and wanted to help, the awesome little dude. As you dried off, you enjoyed a decent bowl of oatmeal with some brown sugar and raisins. You tried your best to enjoy the food, anything to take your mind off of just how terrible you felt right now, but you couldn't really focus on much else right now. Idly, you felt your phone buzzing with a new text. The flipped the thing open to find Kim's name proudly presenting itself for the world to see.

[quote]Hey Ron, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out on Friday! I heard there's a Bueno Nacho event happening in Upperton that you'd want to know about.[/quote]

Well, that was certainly quite tempting, but you didn't really feel like you deserved the cheesy goodness of nacos right now. With an almost paradoxically un-Ronlike move, you texted her back.

[quote]Sorry KP, I can't really make that right now.[/quote]

Almost immediately, the phone buzzed in response.

[quote]Why?[/quote]

You almost posted exactly what was wrong on reflex. 'Sorry Kim, I'm feeling down because I killed Gil in cold blood yesterday.' You'd always shared everything with her, and this was something that was pretty damn important. Your finger hovered over the send button, with two parts of your mind fighting desperately to take control of the digit. After a few minutes, you made your decision.

Deleting all of the message, you finally came to a conclusion you'd been debating for a long time.

Kim couldn't know about this, _ever_. It's wasn't that you doubted she could handle herself, she was more than capable.

No, she just wouldn't accept the things you needed to do to stop these monsters. You'd burned down a house to kill a Vampire, but Kim wouldn't have agreed with that. You went down into the sewers to hunt the Nosferatu whose only crime you were sure about was looking into your group. She'd never have let that fly. You executed a surrendered enemy because you knew fighting him again was too risky. Kim would have jumped in front of the gun.

No, you couldn't risk your team getting hurt because one person had a moral problem with the methods you needed to keep people safe. Even if that person was your best friend. With a small sigh, you typed in your own little deflection.

[quote]

I would, but I'm meeting with some friends in the club. It wouldn't be good to flake on them.[/quote]

You _had_ been planning to go talk with Mr. B on Friday, so it wasn't like that was a total lie. Not that it made you feel any better about yourself, though you couldn't really change things now that you'd hit the send button. You finished off the rest of the breakfast Rufus had prepped for you, and donned your biking suit.

You'd had a pretty important meeting to get t-. OH CRAP you didn't think it was almost 9:00 already!? With a haste you hadn't really planned on, you jumped onto the Bike and sped away towards Señor Senior Senior's Mount Middleton MegaMansion. Luckily, the roads you took weren't that busy right now, and you couldn't see any cops, so you took the opportunity to cut down on travel time. You knew you were going to be late, but by speeding as high as you felt safe you could make up some of the difference.

97 was a safe speed, right?

Sure, you had to weave around a few cars that were going much slower than you, but it wasn't like you had the time to care about small things like that. Around twenty minutes later, you pulled up in front of the giant house.

You parked in front of the large set of double doors and quickly threw off your helmet to rush into the building. You charged up the foyer, blasting past a confused looking Junior before charging through the door to Señor Senior Senior's study. The look of shock the Señor gave you was quickly covered by a tacit smile as Valmont simply threw a look of annoyance your way. You stopped and awkwardly scratched the back of your head. This… wasn't really your best showing.

"Uuh, sorry about that. I kinda realized I was running late and sped all the way here. I guess I didn't really slow down even after I got off of the bike." The old man chuckled at that, while his compatriot only scowled a bit deeper.

"I expect punctuality, Mr. Stoppable. I do hope you won't disappoint me next time. After a-" The Senior stopped him before he could launch into a tirade probably like those you'd been given by Mr. B for years.

"Do not be so hard on him, Valmont. He was only two minutes late. And besides, you can tell that there is something troubling him." God, were you really so transparent?

"That does not excuse his actions. He should know to leave his issues at the doorstep. Especially when dealing with the supernatural." Though it was sound advice, the frankness of it grated on you. You couldn't just ignore the fact that you'd killed someone less than a day ago just because someone said you should! Still, he did have something resembling a point and you could recognize that.

"Look, I get it. I'm new. There's a lot of things I don't know and a bunch of things I didn't have to do until recently." He sighed.

"Then tell me," Valmont asked sharply, "How will you react when you are forced to do something horrible to survive? If you must destroy something or someone simply because it is the only acceptable option, will you lock up like this? If you are this affected by whatever petty issues you may have, then how can you be trusted to function within your own group, much less here, with CORE?" You shrunk into yourself a little. It had been a while since you'd been the target of such scathing contempt from an adult. Usually, Mr. B was the only one who bothered. Señor Senior Senior could see your reaction, and decided it was time to intervene.

"Well, I trust Ronald, and believe it will be enough to give him some time to deal with whatever issues he has. I believe he has a strong character, well able to weather whatever will come his way. If he is so unsettled by this problem, I believe it a valid one." The blonde man simply sighed and rolled his eyes before looking you straight in the eyes.

"Well then, if it should be so important to have impacted your own integrity, perhaps our young co-worker would be willing to tell us what it is he did."

Oh man.

"Now now, he does not have t-"

"If you believe his trust is worth so much, then I am willing to extend some. But only if it is reciprocated. Secrets can have consequences after all, even before hostile supernatural creatures enter into things. If something is so important as to disturb Mister Stoppable, then it should be important for all of us who are in this venture _together_ with him to know." You fidgeted a bit in place. You looked between the two of them, and then at the ground.

"You do not have to tell us if you feel it would be too personal, Ronald." It was nice of Señor Senior to say that, and it really did reassure you. A little bit. However, you knew that Valmont had an undeniable point. The people you were fighting these monsters with needed the truth. Anything less would end up hurting them. You sighed to yourself in resignation.

"No, he's right. If I want to work with you guys as equals, I need to treat you like equals. I can't just leave something as big as this to fester." You could see Valmont nodding in agreement.

"So, what is it that is troubling you so?" You looked to the side of the room.

"I… uuuh. I. Maaaay have, kinda. Sorta. Just might. Havekilledateenagerincoldblood." Yeah, the room went about as silent as you'd expected at that. Señor Senior Senior simply seemed stunned by the idea, but wasn't really showing anything resembling hostility as far as you could tell. Valmont, on the other hand, was showing something almost bordering respect (at least, you thought that was it. You hadn't been given looks like that enough to tell). After a minute of absolutely nothing happening, Señor Senior acted.

"I think I shall make my departure while you two handle the paperwork. It seems you have a lot to talk about," He began to leave the room, but not before turning to you, "and thank you for telling me, Ronald. I would like to hear the story behind that, but I can wait." He gave you something resembling a smile as he walked out. It was weak, but genuine. Once the door closed, the blonde man turned to you with a large stack of papers.

"Well then, you have a lot of work to do. So let's get started," He pointed to the first page, "This is a basic non-disclosure agreement. There are things this company will do, and things we will hire you and yours to do for us. They will reach no one outside of LORE and yourselves unless we tell you it can. This will cover the rest of your group, too." You scratched off a signature, silently noting the irony that _this_ would be the first thing you had to sign. He motioned for you to flip to the next page.

"Payment details. You'll be working both as one of us and for us. This will account for the possible payments, which will vary based on certain difficulties for your missions." Wow… those were some pretty big numbers right there, and that was only for the basic missions! You almost cried at your salary, too! Of course, it was all being managed in a trust fund run by Mr. B, but that was still pretty crazy. You added your name to the document, and continued on. The next few pages for boring legal stuff that you tried to keep from glazing over about while you attempted to parse the inane jargon within. While you did so, Valmont took a seat beside you.

"Hmph," he coughed and cleared his throat, "I would like to apologize for my uncouth behavior before. I had thought, given my previous background research on you, that you would have been concerned with something less... intense than that sort of unfortunate reality. I expected it would be something puerile and trifling, perhaps a sudden closing of that damned fast food restaurant or wanting to ask a girl out on a date." To be totally fair, those _were_ totally things you would have freaked out about a few weeks ago. Finally getting to the next signature, you signed off and continued on.

"Now, I can understand how hard your first kill can be. However, what I said before still stands. You can't let something like this weigh you down. It was the first time you've ended a life. It will likely be far from the last. It will get easier, from doing the act to cleaning up afterwards," he paused, "You… did dispose of the body, correct?" You stopped and wracked your brain.

"...No." He nodded, before clapping his hands together.

"Then it will be up to your experienced senior to teach you how to do so properly. There will be no shallow burials or other rookie mistakes from one of my compatriots in crime," He turned towards the door," I shall go acquire the materials for this. The rest of the contract should be relatively straightforward. When you are done, meet me in the foyer." It wasn't really much longer. About ten minutes of boring, hellish lawyer-speak before you finally got sick of it and just signed and dates where appropriate. Most of the stuff was pretty intuitive anyway, like 'I won't drink, smoke and have sex on the job' sort of simple. Just, you know, coated in a lot of fancy words so that you'd have a reason to remember it rather than just skipping through it.

You know, like what you were doing anyway…

But honestly, it did really speed things along, and after you finished surprisingly sparse tax stuff you were done with it all. With a sigh of relief, you turned towards the door. When it opened without any resistance, you walked down to the designated meeting point, where Valmont was waiting in surgical scrubs.

Right next to Junior, who was clad in a similar getup. He waved to you.

"Ronald, does the mask make my face look big?" You shrugged while Valmont simply massaged his eyebrows with one hand and held out a similar looking set of clothes with the other.

"Look, fashion statements aside could you please just don the uniform and get ready to go?" You nodded, and ducked into the nearest bathroom that Junior kindly directed you to. About thirty seconds later, you were back out and ready to leave. The older man directed the two of you to a nondescript looking car, and entered the driver's seat. Junior immediately called shotgun, leaving you to take the backseat. Once that was done, you finally asked the question that'd been weighing on your mind since you saw him.

"So, why are you here, Junior?" He leaned back to look at you.

"Well, Valmont said that he was going to be doing some hunter-related things and I figured that since I am intending to join up with your group it would behoove me to help." That made enough sense, and at the very least you knew he was on board with your group, "though I am still wondering what exactly it is we are doing…" Wait, did he really not know? You sighed while Valmont took a moment to answer his question.

"Well, we're going to be disposing of a corpse, Junior." You could just see the color draining from the young Señor Senior's face.

"You mean… a dead person?" He looked back at you, and you nodded gravely. He shivered, "I did not realize I was signing up for this." Valmont snickered.

"Did you really think something as dangerous as fighting monsters would just be a fun pass time? No, you've committed and there's no better lesson than doing one of the least palatable jobs there is first." He looked over to you with a pleading expression, but you couldn't really respond with anything more than a noncommittal shrug.

"Look, I don't like this any more than you do but this is part of what we do. If neither of us can stomach this, what good are we?" From the driver's seat, you could hear Valmont give a noise of approval.

"Aptly put. Now, we'll be pulling up to the site soon," You quirked an eyebrow at him, "I asked

Señor Senior Senior, who apparently got the message from someone."

"That was me. Brick told me since I was part of your group now." You sighed as Valmont put the car in park at the opening of the camp.

"You know, you can't just tell everyone where we're going, Junior." He nodded.

"Of course, but I believe father would be one of those people it would be acceptable to talk to, correct?" Well… he wasn't wrong, per se. Better someone who was in your corner rather than strangers.

"Just- Just make sure you're careful about this, alright?" From the back, you could hear the sound of the trunk being popped open. Taking that as your cue, both of you walked out of the car and to the back, where Valmont was busy taking out three large looking jugs of something. He handed one of them to you.

"Now be _very_ careful with that. It is pure sodium hydroxide heated to around 400 degrees. If you spill some on yourself you will regret it for the rest of your life," Well, that was pretty scary. He handed another jug to Junior before affixing his surgical mask and picking up the last one, "Now, can you please direct me to where our body is?" You started towards the forest, piecing together your own hazy recollections of last night. You passed through the clearing, and tried to recall the path you made yesterday. After a few minutes of aimless wandering, you started to see a pretty clear path.

Well, at the very least you smelled it. All of you did. Valmont didn't show any outwards reaction other than a crinkle of the surgical mask, but Junior almost reeled back at the smell. Taking care, you put down the jug and affixed your own barrier, hoping that the covering would at least make everything seem more bearable. You saw Junior hastily doing the same. It wasn't great, but it was better.

Sadly, Valmont went against all better judgement and marched towards the source of the smell. As you approached, it got stronger and by the time you could start to see the blood, you had to hold back bile from the back of your throat. As you approached the scene, you tried your best to ignore the rising urge to vomit. Gil's body was there, lying against a tree surrounded by a small pool of blood. Valmont was already next to him, moving the corpse away from the tree and out onto the ground. After that, he unscrewed the bottle of lye and splashed a little bit on the pool of blood. You could watch it dissolving the caked red material without much effort. Junior himself seemed to be turning a sickly shade of green. However, when the older man motioned for the two of you to start working on Gil's body, he began to move. You followed, unscrewing the cap as you did your best not to look at the gruesome picture you had created. When the first bit of the strong base hit his body, you could hear the suit he wore starting to sizzle violently.

It smelled even worse than the body, to be honest. You heard Junior heave from behind his mask, but you paid it no attention. You were doing your best to keep from looking at pretty much anything, right now. The sizzle finally ended as the suit gave, and was replaced by a faint sputtering sound that came in fits as the material you were carefully pouring started to chew through the human flesh. The smell of the thing brought vomit to the back of your throat, and you had to force yourself to swallow it rather than risk adding even more to the mess. Across from you, Junior was doing little better. Valmont was busy clearing the rest of the scene, and you could faintly hear the sound of what you assumed was Gil's mask being melted and broken down.

Three hours of the disgusting process later, and Gil's body was reduced to nothing but bones. His skin melted into some sick brownish liquid that Valmont brought out a trio of sponges for you to clean up. That was possibly even more unpleasant than the entire 'dissolving a body thing' through sheer grossness. You were certain there were bits of liquid human all over your suit, though luckily none on your mask. After another hour cleaning that up, you threw Gil's leftover bones into a burlap sac along with your now tainted scrubs. Once that bag was safely placed in the trunk of the car, you all left the Camp. About a half an hour later, while on the way to Señor Senior Senior's place, Valmont's phone buzzed. He picked it up without concern as the car sped down the highway.

"This is Valmont. Ah, Señor," What could he possibly be calling for? It wasn't like you guys had stayed out that late, "Yes, we've just finished up and are on our way back. You would want to meet up with us? Ah, yes. I know the place. You would? Well, that sounds wonderful. See you there." He clicked the phone off and continued driving. Junior's curiosity got the best of him, though.

"What was my father calling for?"

"Oh, he was offering to meet up with us for a late lunch at a nearby hibachi place, his treat. It was to celebrate your decision to join up with Mister Stoppable's hunting group." Well, that certainly sounded nice… if you were coming back from literally any other activity.

"Look, I know he's being nice and I don't want to be rude Mr. Valmont," He quirked his eyes at you, "But I don't think food is the best thing for either of us right now." He chuckled.

"Nonsense. In fact, I believe a nice meal would perhaps be the best thing to help you both right now." Junior seemed confused.

"How would anything like that help? I do believe Father means well, but these are hardly normal circumstances we are work-" He was cut off.

"No. This is your new normal, whether or not you like it. Such is the price to be paid when one enters the shadows beyond the light of normality. It would be best for you to become accustomed to it with all due speed." He merge onto an exit, before making a few more turns. The restaurant itself was a small place, more a hole in the wall than you'd expected. The expensive looking car parked outside did signify that this was likely where Señor Senior Senior had directed you to go.

When you walked in, you couldn't help but admire the place's design. It seemed like something straight out of the movies, and the Hostess was even wearing a nice-looking Kimono! You weren't sure that was normal, but it was cool enough that you didn't particularly feel like complaining. Valmont spoke quietly to the woman, and after a few seconds she pointed to one of the grills sections. Señor Senior was sitting there, and he gave you all a nice wave while you moved towards the seats. When you had taken your places, your chef for the meal came out. He was definitely asian, though you'd hesitate to say Japanese. The guy was built pretty well, though and gave you a grandiose bow before beginning.

"I am Hirotaka. It is a pleasure to meet you," he pulled out a pair of very… _large_ looking knifes, and flipped them with a small flourish, "Now, would you like to order?" He turned to Valmont first, giving you time to scan the menu. Luckily, by the time he turned to you, you'd found a good combination.

"Beef and Scallions, please." He nodded. You'd never really had the opportunity to eat scallions much. Sure, mom and dad didn't really keep Kosher, but stuff like this also tended to be expensive. You never wanted to spend that much of their money when they took you out. However, no matter how bad it sounded, the Seniors had money to spare. You could afford to be adventurous if it was on their dime. He nodded, before departing back into the bowels of the kitchen. A minute later, he came back with a large platter of ingredients. He smiled at you all, before oiling up the grill, setting your stacks of meat onto the blacktop, and separating them if front of you according to your order. After that, he started making groups of vegetables, taking them and separating them in arrays that, while good, were probably not what you would have picked for the dishes requested.

After that, he took out a radish and chopped it up into four even chunks. With precision, he flipped one onto a knife and pointed at Señor Senior. The older man nodded, before opening his mouth. WIth a small flourish, the chef sent the piece of radish sailing right in. He turned to Junior, who at this point was caught up enough in the act to ignore what exactly had been going on for the last few hours. After he received his piece of radish, the man turned to Valmont, who simply stared at him. With a slight grin, he flipped the piece onto his plate and turned to you. With a wink, he flipped the thing towards you. However, you could already tell that the shot was a bit off, and you'd already begun to move down to catch the thing with your mouth. He nodded when you got it, and went back to making your food as spectacularly as he could.

About twenty minutes later, your food was finished and plated. The chef gave you a bow, saying you only needed to call him if you wished for a bit more time with your food. After that, he retreated back to the safety of the kitchen while the four of you dug in to your food. The scallions were pretty great, especially when you added a little bit of soy-sauce. Of course, after a while your thoughts drifted back to your activities today and suddenly you weren't feeling particularly hungry any more. Luckily, Señor Senior Senior took that moment to start a conversation.

"Ronald, I was wondering if you were available next week, sometime on the weekend after Christmas?" Well, you were considering Drakken's party, but that was like considering whether or not you wanted to, you know… spend time with Dr. Drakken. Of course, you'd heard the Possibles were attending, so there was always that to consider. So yeah, unless you decided to show up for that, you were free. Sensei, it is me. It seems my mission to locate the Chosen One has already been a success.

"Yeah, I might be. Why so?" Junior continued.

"Well, Father is hosting a company Christmas Party with a few of our new contacts. You are part of the company, so your name will be on the list. If you wish to attend, you will be allowed in." That sounded pretty cool. You'd definitely have to give it some thought. With that on your mind, Señor Senior Senior finally felt it was time to broach the subject you'd all been has the power, just like you Master... Yes, he can use it in some fashion.

"How did your… _activities_ go today then?" You could only look at Junior as he looked at you. Both of you were waiting for the other to make the first move, probably to deflect anything that could have been said or taken the wrong way. However, before you could come up with anything, Valmont chose to answer.

"I do believe the two did well today. Though they did handle it somewhat poorly at first, they shaped up to the job quicker than most would and completed it in a timely manner," He took a moment to nod to himself, "Yes, they have done better than I expected." The older Señor course. I shall return after doing what you ask.

"I told you they would impress you."

XxX

There you were, in the basement of stately Masters Manor atop majestic Mount Middleton. Mister Masters had set up the training area for Jazz down here, far away from any prying eyes. The room gleamed with the same kind of chrome finish and high technology that you'd seen in the basement of his Wisconsin Cheese Castle. You'd been down here for some time, but you hadn't had a chance to actually get a look at the decor. You were too busy fighting for your life!

Well, OK, Jazz probably wasn't trying to kill you, but she could walk through walls, disappear, and _fly_! It took everything you had just to keep ahead of her! The two of you had been sparring more or less continuously for hours! Mister Masters only let you have breaks when one or the other of you had performed a successful take down of some kind. Your only real advantage was that you had a _lot_ more experience than Jazz. Sure, she had cheating superpowers, but you'd spent the last four years as a the sidekick to a world famous hero, and the last couple months doing your best to prepare and hunt things stronger and faster than normal humans. She still got most of the take downs though.

When it came to normal fighting, you figured out that the best way to hit her was to go for counter moves. If she was trying to smack you one she wasn't invisible or intangible. Unfortunately, she picked up on that pretty quick and took to attacking from the air. You did a lot of running, bobbing, and weaving after that point. Still, you managed to keep from falling too far behind through sheer dogged determination, as well as a desire not to think about things. Complete focus was your goal, and as time went on you felt you like you were actually reaching it. It certainly got easier to dodge!

Defensive strike Unlocked!

Eventually, you and Jazz ended up face down on the matts both of you gasping for breath and soaked with sweat. You were so tired you almost felt calm again, despite your horrible return to the Evilest Place on Earth. Sadly, your attempt at passing out in complete exhaustion was interrupted by Mister Masters clapping slowly. You managed to gather enough energy to turn your head slowly towards him and saw him grinning down at you.

"Well done, both of you," he smirked, "I'm quite impressed by your stamina. Jasmine, that sort of long term combat can take quite a while to master, but you kept your powers going very skillfully, especially considering how new you are to this. You just need a bit more practice and you'll be perfect. Ronald, you are somewhat the reverse. I could tell you've quite a bit of experience at combat, and your ability to keep up with a hostile superpowered opponent was remarkable!"

He nodded once and continued, "Now I'm sure you both would like a shower, but I'm afraid we've only the one on this floor, and I'll not be having any hanky panky!" You and Jazz both found enough embarrassment to blush and look away from each other. "Jasmine, you may have the closer one, and I'll show Ronald to one upstairs."

Mister Masters helped the two of you up and guided you upstairs. You stumbled once or twice, you weren't used to being this tired. Working yourself into exhaustion had _not_ been part of your usual routine, though odds were good it would be in the future. The only way to keep up with things stronger, faster, and all around deadlier than you was to make yourself _better_ and this was the fastest way.

Once you were on the ground floor Mister Masters stopped and turned to face you. "Ronald," he said seriously, "I know you've had some trouble this week. I could see it in the way you fought out there, trying to force every bit of your energy into keeping up with Jasmine. Do you want to talk about it?'

Oh jeez, were you that obvious? Probably, you weren't exactly used to being mister subtle. You sighed deeply and said, "I guess I probably should. You're already dealing with one of my screw ups. I should let you know in case this turns into another one. I. Killed a guy."

Mister Masters raised an eyebrow, "I expect there's a bit more to it than that Ronald."

"Well yeah, I guess," you replied with exhaustion, "He was a clear and present threat. He was going to keep coming after me and the people I cared about. Heck, Tara got turned into a _mutant_ because I wasn't fast enough or smart enough to stop him. Still, I just... I shot him in cold blood." You probably wouldn't have been this upfront about things if you weren't so damn tired or to anyone else, but you were at least as tired as you'd ever been, and Mister Masters would probably hear about this from Valmont or Señor Senior Senior. It was pretty important...

Mister Masters looked at you steadily, he didn't recoil or flinch. "How are you dealing with it lad?"

"I just, I'd do it again y'know. It bothers me that that doesn't bother me. That I'm willing to kill that easily."

"Ronald," Mister Masters hummed, "That's a perfectly normal reaction. I cannot say whether or not your actions were justified, as I don't know enough about the situation." He raised a hand as you opened your mouth, "I do know a fair bit about you though, from Jasmine, and from my own investigations when Señor Senior Senior put you forth as a possible founding member of LORE. He looked at you with a clear icy blue gaze, "You are a good man Ronald. Do not doubt that. If you need to talk about this I'm always available. I may have other commitments, but you are a vital lifeline for Jasmine, and I will do whatever I can to help you through this."

That, you sighed in thought, that was really cool of him. It was weird though. You suddenly had a wealth of people taking you seriously and wanting to help you. You'd never had that before. It was ...you were too tired to figure out what it was. You were just going to be thankful.

"I'll remember that Mister Masters. Thank you."

"Ronald, I think you can call me Vlad after this." He studied you for a moment before turning back down the hall, "The shower's right this way, and I dare say you could use it young man!" He grinned.

You gave him a tired smile and made straight for the shower. He was right, you could smell your own stink, and that was never a good sign!

XxX

You managed to get more sleep Thursday night than you had expected, though it was still less than your normal day's worth. However, you found yourself feeling much more functional than you had yesterday. Sure, there were still a lot of misgiving about your actions, but you'd managed to get something along the line of help for you issues, even if it was unexpected.

It was better than bottling everything up, though. That was for sure. Now, while you were still kinda okay with the idea of getting some help coping, you dialed in a number that had become pretty familiar. By the second ring, Mr. B had picked up.

"Stoppable."

"Mr. Barkin." There was a small silence after the exchange, before he continued.

"My offer still stands. If you want to talk, you're able to come over," Good. That was what you were hoping, "From the lack of a denial, I'll take that as an affirmative. I know this can be difficult for you, but I'll do the best I can." He hung up after that. You started getting dressed, making sure to leave some food for Rufus before you walked outside.

Or you would have, if not for the crinkling noise you heard when you stepped on the doormat. Looking down, you saw a letter. It was addressed to you.

Well, it was addressed to 'Loser' but that practically meant the same thing. You opened up the piece of paper, and looked through the printed sheet of paper on it.

[quote] _Loser,_

 _First of all, it wasn't my idea to send this. If I had my way, you wouldn't have even figured out this existed until it was over and done with. God knows I'm having enough trouble explaining to some why you're still in the popular circle even though you're mostly still… _you_._

 _However, this is what Tara wanted and, given she's not in the best condition now, I feel like she'd be disappointed in me if I didn't at least throw you a bone._

 _So here it is. If you're available on Christmas weekend, I'm going to be hosting a party at family's cabin. Feel free to come if you want to. I'm going to be there from Friday to Sunday with most of the Cheer squad and the Football team. Tara said she'd invited a few more people, probably Mankey and two or three others. She probably wanted to get something like this to you yesterday._

 _Now, normally I'd tell you I don't want you there, but given what you did on Wednesday, I think I can make an exception._

 _Come on time, fashionably late or not at all._

[/quote]

Well, that was the third invite you'd gotten. It seemed like it'd be a bigger commitment than the others, but it also sounded like it could be fun. After all, Brick and Mankey were going to be there! You'd definitely have to give it some thought. However, there were more pressing matters. You suited up and got ready to head out. Once you were on your bike, heading straight toward Lowerton, all thoughts about scheduling and conflicts flew out of your head.

The journey was pleasant, for a cold Friday morning. You'd been lucky enough to miss the Lunch rush and keep away from the second shift rushour. As you cruised forward, you couldn't help but feel a little better about everything. After about twenty minutes, you flew off the exit ramp and right towards the apartment Mr. Barkin lived in.

The place was pretty upscale for Lowerton, but you knew that some of the areas around here tended to be better off. You checked the apartment number, and made sure you had the right one before pressing the button. After a few seconds, there was a buzzing noise as the door in front of you unlocked. You opened it, and moved to the elevator. Once the doors opened, you slipped in and punched the floor where Mister B lived. While you ascended, some catchy pop tune came in on the muzak. You walked out humming the thing to yourself as you walked forward. Luckily, Mr B was already standing outside of his place with the door open, probably waiting for you rather than risking you getting lost in the building.

Which was probably for the best, given your sense of direction sometimes. He nodded to you.

"Stoppable. Please come in." He waited for you to enter, before following you into the surprisingly well furnished apartment. You'd expected something more spartan of him, but the myriad posters and news articles lining the walls did seem to fit his character once you thought about it. You'd bet if you looked at a few of the headlines you'd see references to previous cases and things he'd done with Dr. Director. He sat down in a chair facing a nice-looking coffee table and picked up a waiting mug of something ominously murky to put to his lips. You sat down on a chair opposite him. There was an empty mug waiting for you, in case you felt like drinking anything, but you didn't really feel any need to use it. You spent a few seconds in silence as Mr. B enjoyed his brew. He looked you in the eye.

"Stoppable, I would like to apologize for my conduct on the hunt. It was… unprofessional of me to act as I did, especially at something so minor. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, even considering what happened to Tara," Wow, this was pretty heavy, "I just… had an unpleasant trip down memory lane after seeing the dog."

"Don't worry, Mr. B. I don't think anyone in the group blames you," Well, not any more than you all blamed yourselves, "We get it. There's problems that you have, and none of us would judge you for something you can't really prevent. You've seen things I'm pretty sure none of us could even imagine. Most of them probably weren't great for your mind. I get it."

"I really wish you didn't at your age, Stoppable," He sighed deeply, "but some things are unavoidable, it seems. I think that's enough about my issues. What about yours? How are you feeling, after everything that happened on Wednesday?" You shrugged.

"I'm doing a lot better than I might have expected. It probably helps that I had a bit of help pulling myself back together," He motioned for you to continue, "Some of the Lore board members talked to me about what happened." Mr. B's face took on a rather stony expression.

"... I see. What did these people tell you?"

"Well, I was informed that this was probably something that I'd just have to live with and that it was part of the life I'd chosen to live. They said I did the right thing, even though I'm still not too sure of that myself right now, and they both respected my decision." He nodded, before taking another sip of his drink.

"Well, then I'll have to thank them for saying what I would have earlier than I could have."And to make sure they're not trying to influence you.

You looked down. That felt… kinda disappointing, actually. You'd expected something more than what you'd gotten.

"...Is that really what everyone thinks?" Mr. B nodded.

"Many in the know would adopt a similar opinion, yes. I, for example, would have said you did the right thing no matter what," he paused to take a sip of coffee, "Considering, of course, that you tried to do something at all rather than freezing up."

"That sounds like a really simplistic way to look at things Mister B, especially considering what you told me." He looked to the side, his eyes tracing the myriad memories of times long past with a grim demeanor.

"Stoppable, I've had years to think about what happened _that_ day, going over everything I could have changed at least twice, if not more. I hated myself for years for... what happened back then. The one thing I concluded was that no matter what, I could always rely on the fact that when push came to shove, I didn't just stand there and let things happen. I took control and did what I thought was right. Even if I can't take solace in what happened," his knuckles tightened around the mug's handle until they were bone white, "even if I sometimes fail to meet even that low standard, it is what I believe should be the primary thing you need to survive in this line of work."

Well, that was certainly… something. To be honest, right now you weren't sure what to make of it.

"So then…"

"Yes. I don't think you made a bad choice, even if most people might not consider it morally appropriate. You did what you thought was necessary to protect everyone else, and that's what matters. You tried, and only time will tell whether you'll consider it the right choice," he paused, before giving you a soft smile, "though whatever you decide, you'll keep moving. You're made of strong stuff, Ronald. Even if you don't show it to everyone."

That was reassuring, but it didn't answer all of your questions. You moved to speak, but by that point Mr. B had already shot to his feet. He was looking down at you with a pretty creepy grin, like he'd figured out the punchline to some joke that hadn't been told.

"Now, Stoppable, I think you made a good choice. As your teacher, I think that obligates a certain reward." You tilted your head in confusion.

"... A gold star?" He gave a sensible chuckle.

"No, better," He pulled out a cell phone, "a pizza party."

XxX

About an hour later, the pizza had arrived. It was a gargantuan thing, something Mr. B said he'd only ordered back in his college days. Thin crust, covered in cheese, sausage and pepperoni, garnished with onion, green pepper, mushrooms, and even a few slices of tomato. With a small corner of simple pepperoni and cheese for Junior.

It looked delicious. To go with it, Mr. B had Mankey bring in a stack of 2-liter sodas and ice which you had to help wrench from his car. Following that was the opening of something almost sacred: Mr. Barkin's animated action movie collection. Once everything was in order, and each of you had a humongous slice of the pizza, Mr. B lifted his cup to address the rest of you.

"Today, we remark upon the death of Gil Moss. He was a child who chose to become a monster, and died at the hand of Ronald Dean Stoppable. May the world be the better for his passing, and may his death bring about the start of the first unofficial Hunting Club 'Guy's Night'" He nodded before motioning his cup at you, "Hear hear." The other guys threw their cups up and looked over to you.

"Hear hear!"

Of course, since you were the subject of said pizza party, you got the first choice of movie. As the Fearless Ferret vs the Fiery Pharmacist started up, you each took up positions on the couch and myriad chairs Mr. B had moved into the room. You each shoved your concerns to the door for a moment, and just enjoyed the day.

It was nice.

By about the middle of the movie, people were coming in for seconds. When you walked back to your spot on the couch, Josh had taken up the seat right next to you, where Brick had been sitting before. He patted the seat where you had been, and looked you right in the eye.

He really wanted to talk about something, apparently. Probably Tara. Of course, you couldn't just avoid it, not right now. With a small sigh, you took the seat. He leaned over to you.

"Look, man. I know you're not feeling right about what happened, but I don't think anyone here thinks less about you for what happened. Now," he clapped his hands together, "let's watch a pernicious pharmacist properly punished pertaining to the perilous plan he perpetrates!" You looked at him from the corner of your eye.

"... You really wanted to say that, didn't you?" He nodded.

"Yeah, I'd been wrestling with that for the last hour. It's one of my better ones." You couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Well, if that's your good stuff then I'd hate to see the bad." He laughed.

"You know, you're pretty cool in my books, Stoppable. Bonnie would've just rolled her eyes normally."

"Oh, don't worry. I was doing that in my head." He smiled.

"Right. Well, let's get back to it then." He grabbed the remote and pushed the play button.

And somewhere in the back of your head, you thought that maybe, even for a little while, everything would be fine.

XxX

Saturday dawned cold and wet. Damp snow fell from the sky, the kind that might make for good sled runs down Mount Middleton if you had the time for it. Sadly, you did not, today was all about the training. You weren't going to risk Last Dawn in weather like this though, so you clambered onto your old moped and headed for the shooting range. Rufus shivered in your pocket, chittering away as slowly made your way through the streets of Middleton.

The range had a mix of people, mostly in ones or twos. Your club was the largest single group present, and everyone was pushing themselves. It was weird to think that a short while ago none of you had so much as picked up a firearm. Now, you could see that Bonnie and Josh were throwing themselves into marksmanship practice. They were putting rounds down range like it was going out of style, and had a surprisingly high degree of accuracy. Bonnie especially looked like she was trying to find that zone you knew that she and Kim could get in when they worked on a serious cheer routine, the sort of single minded focus that made the two of them the best Middleton had. Josh was a bit more emotional about it. You could tell he was feeling Tara's absence, and from what you could see of his face under the goggles and earmuffs he was seriously tweaked. He'd done his own thing this week, and you figured that was bothering him. It was one of the ideas that had bothered you after all. If he'd come with to Wannaweep he could have watched Tara's back and maybe things wouldn't have escalated. He looked to be about where you were when you worked off all your tension fighting a superhuman. You wished him luck.

The rest of the club, besides yourself, were less emotional. Brick was his usual solid self, shooting calmly and carefully, nothing disturbing his calm as he got his practice in. He'd done his job this week and while he was friends with Tara, they weren't close. He was probably mostly bothered second hand, because Bonnie was. He'd even gotten into something of a competition with Junior, who seemed to be enjoying his first time on the range. Mister B was watching him like a hawk, making sure to correct the way he was holding his gun, and ensuring that Junior took this seriously. While Junior was the primary recipient of Mister B's attention, he still found time to move up and down the range, looking in on everyone in the club. He kept an eye on you, but most of the time he spent was with the others. It didn't feel like he was neglecting you, more like he… trusted seemed to be the right word, your judgement. It felt pretty nice.

And that left you.

You were doing better than normal. You didn't know why, but for whatever reason you found it easier to keep your eye on the target and shoot. Your accuracy had always been good, but not _this_ good. You smiled to yourself. You always had a nice time here. It was nice to have something new, something that you were unequivocally good at. It was a strange sort of relief from the stress you'd been dealing with since Wannaweep. It wasn't like training with Jazz. You'd worn yourself to the bone then, tried to burn the stress out of you or maybe replace emotional wear and tear with a purely physical one. Here, things were simple. You fired your gun. You hit your target. You reloaded. You repeated. It was… relaxing, in a way.

By the end of the time Mister B had reserved everyone had changed a bit. Junior'd had his first taste of the brass tacks of practical hunting, Josh had managed to master the basics, and overall the Club had come together again, worked together without a monster to hunt, just for the sake of self improvement and maybe a bit of socializing. This had been a good morning.

Everyone else left around noon, but you decided to stay on the range for a little while longer. You knew what you wanted to do, and after a few minutes you knew you'd be good enough to satisfy yourself and pack up.

When Vlad called your phone, you hadn't realized it'd hit five already. You picked up the thing as quickly as you could, trying not to sound as out of it as you could.

"Hey, this is Ron."

" _Hello, Ronald. This is Vlad speaking. I forgot to tell you, but Jasmine will be staying in Middleton for Christmas. Her family decided to make the trip to Middleton rather than have her fly back. As such, I will be hosting guests on Monday. If you do not have plans for Christmas, since I know your family doesn't celebrate, feel free to stop by. I know my niece would love to see you there._ " Well, darn. You knew that your normal Christmas was centered around the Possible family dinner, but you could probably slip out for a little bit to stop by and say hi.

"Yeah, sure. I've got some plans, but I think I can make it." You could almost feel Vlad smiling from the other end of the line.

" _Splendid, I shall see you on Monday, then._ " He hung up at that, leaving you with a stark realization. You still needed to get people Christmas gifts.

Welp, there went the rest of your evening.

 **Ron's Firearms skill has reached Rank 2! Josh's firearms skill has reached Rank 1!**

XxX

Sunday morning was as overcast as Saturday. It wasn't snowing, but anyone looking up wouldn't see a hint of blue, it was nothing but grey storm clouds as far as the eye could see. According to the weather channel it wasn't going to storm, the clouds would just loom over everyone and make things overcast and shady. You thought it might be appropriate given how things had gone this past week. Serious potential for nastiness, that you hoped wouldn't come to fruition.

Everyone got to the school at more or less the same time, and you trooped in out of the cold. The mood was subdued, not least because Tara wasn't here. Drakken had apparently wanted to run some tests and according to Shego this was the best time for them. You weren't sure whether that was true or just another way for Shego to needle you, but whatever the case, here and now? Tara's absence was felt.

Even Junior's normally buoyant personality couldn't get anything going, not that he really knew why. You could see the confusion written all over his face, but you weren't going to enlighten him. He already knew that things hadn't gone well. He'd get details eventually. Someone else would probably tell him.

The room fell silent.

Normally, this would be the point where someone got up and started talking about what they'd done this week. Not today. The awkward silence stretched out for what seemed like forever, until finally, Mister B sighed, shook his head, and walked to the front of the room.

"Alright people," he started, "This week wasn't a fun one for any of us. I've got a copy of the After Action Report for everyone here, including our newest member. You're more that welcome to ask me questions about what happened, but there's a full dissection of our successes and failures right there in black and white."

He shuffled his papers, sighed again, and looked around the room. "This is what Hunting is like people. You don't always have a perfect win. Still, you all did well at practice yesterday, and I'm glad we're all making improvements. Happy Holidays."

What's the plan, man?


	28. Week 13 pt1- A Very Possible Christmas

The whole club was pretty subdued. Still, you knew what needed doing, and that was get back some of their calm. Everyone but you, Junior, and the adults were going to be on R&R this week. They'd all earned it.

Mister B and Viv would see about getting some werewolf supplies to deal with your werewolf problem. They both had connections that you were sure would serve the club well. You, Shego, and Junior though, you were going to take action. The three of you would hunt down whatever Drakken needed to fix Tara. Immediately.

You shared this plan with the group and got a round of appreciative nods.

"Alright, People," Mister B said, "We're done, have a good week, and I'll see you all next Sunday for practice!"

The group broke up after that, and you only paused to tell Bonnie that you were going to attend her little party next weekend. She was... less than enthused.

"Gawd Stoppable, I guess you can come," She shook her head, "I did invite you. But the only reason I'm not reading you the riot act is because you're going to get Tara help. Otherwise we'd be having a _very_ different conversation, got it freak?" She looked at you with narrow, malice filled eyes.

You nodded quickly back to her, kept your mouth firmly shut, and ran for the hills. You got home, made sure everything in the house was alright despite your parents continuing absence, and got ready for bed with a grin on your face. It might have been a bad week and you really couldn't have cared less that tonight was Christmas Eve, but tomorrow was Christmas with the Possibles, and _that_ was 'the most wonderful time of the year!'

You woke up bright and early monday morning, a terrible thing on a day with no school, but you were sadly used to it by now. Still, it did mean you could spend some time at the Possibles' before you ran around and dropped off everyone's Christmas presents. You threw on your Christmas sweater, hopped on your bike, made sure you and Rufus were wearing your helmet, goggles, scarf, and miscellaneous protective gear, and raced over to Chez Possible.

Mrs Dr P opened the door with a big grin, "Merry Christmas Ron!," she cried as she went in to give you a big hug. The Possibles were awesome.

"Thanks for having me, Mrs Dr P! Merry Christmas to you too!" you replied joyfully. You might have been spending less time here lately, but the whole house looked just like you remembered it, Christmas decorations everywhere you looked, the smell of Mrs Dr P's delicious turkey wafting through the air, and the comforting sounds of the Six Tasks of Snowman Hank echoing from the TV. Though you didn't remember that many snowmobiles involved in any of the Tasks...

You wandered curiously into the living room and found Jim and Tim lying on the floor staring at the screen. That was normal. What wasn't was the fact that SNOWMAN HANK HAD BEEN CANCELLED!

You must have screamed externally instead of internally as a result of pure transcendent horror, because a second later Kim ran into the room looking for trouble. All she found was you gibbering in horror. No supervillains or monsters, just you and a not-so-quiet freakout.  
"Ron?" she asked slowly, "What's wrong?"

"THEY CANCELLED SNOW MAN HANK! THIS IS HORRIBLE!"

Before Kim can respond, Jim and Tim cut in. "Nah," Jim started, "It just got booted to cable. Broadcast channels are showing X-Treme X-mas."

"Yeah," Tim continued, "They were _going_ to cancel it, but some random rich dude apparently saved it at the last minute and made sure it still got on the air. I don't know why, this is waaaayyy cooler."

Oh thank god. You sagged in relief. Kim looked at you, and shook her head in bemusement. She then walked over to you and gave you a hug.

"Merry Christmas Ron," she said softly to you, "I'm glad you could make it. I was worried you wouldn't be able to..."

You stepped back, your arms still on her shoulders, "Are you kidding KP?! I'd never miss Christmas with the Possibles! This is what Christmas is all about!"

Kim smiled at you and lead you over to the kitchen, where the two of you sat down at the table.

What followed was a breath of fresh air. The two of you talked and despite all the horrible horrible secrets you were keeping from her for her own peace of mind and general safety, it felt damn good. You discussed school, a little bit about what the Hunting club was doing, and made sure that she knew your schedule was actually open this week. That made her smile, because GJ had made contact through Wade. Apparently, something was amiss in Lowerton and they wanted Team Possible's help as local guides. You thought that was surprisingly open minded of them and you said as much. Kim giggled, and said that "The agent said we had a stake in things so it made sense to keep us in the loop. I was surprised too!"

The two of you kept up a stream of meaningless chatter for quite a while, chewing the fat and otherwise having the kind of mindless happy fun that had been largely absent from your life of late. Rufus even got into things, running around in his little scarf and doing his best to be appropriately festive. The little guy loved the holidays.

The Drs P popped in and out, Mrs Dr P focused more on her cooking and Mr Dr P on keeping himself out of the way of Mrs Dr P. You never did get why he didn't want to get involved in cooking, it was badical and Mrs Dr P was always so grateful for the help! It might be Christmas but that didn't mean she wasn't on call! Before you knew it, it was eleven o'clock and you had to get those presents delivered if you wanted to be back in time for Christmas Dinner at the Possibles'. Daylight was burning!

Kim's sad to see you go, but understood that you had more friends than just her now and that they all deserve a little Christmas Cheer. You reassured her that you should be back before one o'clock, and if anything goes wrong you'll call right away. She nodded glumly at that and told you to hurry back.

For the most part, your deliveries go off without a hitch. Last Dawn's secure storage compartments keep everything safe and sound. You drop your presents off without any problems, moving swiftly from house to house, exchanging brief pleasantries as you go. In the end you'd gone for one of the things that you knew you were good at. Cooking. In your 'copious' free time over the weekend you'd baked up a bunch of different holiday goodies for everyone. Some Egg Kiechel for Josh, No Sugar cookies for Viv, Bonnie, and Tara, a nice Christmas Cake for Brick, some homemade churros for the Seniors, and a set of ghost themed Christmas colored frosted pastries for the denizens of Masters Manor. Normally, you'd think that would be more of a Halloween thing, but it seemed appropriate. It was only the last delivery where things got complicated.

You'd expected to be in and out. Mister Masters, Vlad, didn't seem like a big holiday guy, and you honestly weren't sure if Jazz would be around. You hadn't heard whether she was going home or her family might be coming here, but the first sign that things might be a bit different was the gigantic neon green and steel grey RV parked across Mister Masters driveway emblazoned with Fenton. Well, at least you'll get to properly meet Jazz's family?

You knocked on Vlad's front door, and for the first time the wild haired butler wasn't the one who opens it. Instead, an absolute giant of a man who you'd only ever seen from a distance appears and grabbed you in a bear hug. "RONNIE!" he cried at what sounded like the top of his lungs, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

You blinked in shock, as Mister Fenton grabbed you and bodily dragged you into the living room. It was all you could do to protect the pastries from being ruined by Mr Fenton's sheer brute strength. The vast, cavernous room was mostly empty, with only a few people standing around in front of a roaring fireplace. You'd been here just last week, but the whole place had been transformed. There were Christmas decorations _everywhere_. You were honestly not sure where they came from, because they didn't look like something Vlad would buy. His tastes ran more towards the elegant and understated while still being blatantly obvious, like his gigantic yet tastefully decorated Cheese Castle. The decorations you could see now were bright, garish, and worn and homey in a way that you just didn't associate with Vlad. The Fentons must have brought this stuff with them.

While you were taking in the scene, Mister Fenton had pulled you by the arm towards the knot of people standing by the fireplace. You recognized them all, mostly from Jazz's descriptions. Mrs Fenton, who looked strangely familiar, though you'd never met her before, Jazz's little brother Danny who had the kind of long suffering 'why is my family like this' look you're used to seeing on Kim at family events, Vlad, who maintained an iron grip on his eggnog, and Jazz. Jazz lit up when she saw you, resignation falling from her face like a stone.

"Ron!" she cried, "It's so good to see you! Merry Christmas!"

Mister Fenton hadn't let go of you yet. You wriggled a bit, and only succeeded in freeing your pastries from his iron grip.

"Oh!" Mrs Fenton said, "Are those for us? That's so thoughtful of you Ronald!" She took the tray from you and placed it on a nearby table, completely ignoring your continuing escape attempts. What was Mr Fenton _made of?!_

"It's so great to MEET you Ronnie!" Mister Fenton yelled as he swung you around like a rag doll. You just couldn't get any leverage to escape! His arms were too thick and strong!

"Dad," Jazz said sharply, "Put him down, I think he's turning blue!"

"Aww Jazzerincess, it's fine! We're bonding! I've heard so much from you and Tara I just had to give the little guy a hug." That's not a hug that's a Noogie dangit! Wait! That meant he was only holding onto you with ONE arm! You wriggled even more and managed to pop right out of Mister Fenton's grip. Unfortunately, that also sent you flying into the air on a collision course with the table. A month or two ago you would have landed in a heap and probably destroyed both table and pastries, but you'd had a fair bit of training lately. You managed to springboard off the table and somersault through the air, landing on your feet. You stood there with your fists up in ready position, but this wasn't a fight for your life for once. The only thing coming your way was a smattering of applause.

"Uh, Merry Christmas," You said questioningly, which gets you a few happy nods, "The pastries are for Mister Masters and Jazz, but I made extra just in case."

"Thanks man," Danny said as he grabbed one, "Hey, these are really good! You make 'em yourself?"

"Yeah," you replied, "I can shoot you the recipe if you want. Pretty easy to make."

"Why the ghost design though?" Danny asked.

Oh crap! Think quick Stoppable! "Eh," you tried to shrug noncommittally, "I thought it'd remind Jazz of home if she was here, and that Mister Masters would get a kick out of it if she weren't."

"It was very nice of you Ronald," Mrs Fenton put in, "I'm sorry we didn't get anything for you though."

"Nah, Mrs Fenton," you replied, "Christmas is about giving, more than receiving! It's cool."

"Aww," Mister Fenton groaned sadly before perking up, "You'll just have to come visit us so we can return the favor!" You kept an eye on him, you didn't like the way he was lining himself up again. "Jazz has told us all about you, it's almost like you're one of the family already!"

That was... nice of him to say, you supposed, but you had another family to be getting back to just now.

"Thanks Mister Fenton-"

"Call me Jack Ronnie!"

"...Jack, But I do have to be going now, got Christmas plans."

"NONSENSE!" he yelled as he moved to tackle hug you again, "This is the perfect time for us to get to know you in person!"

GAH!

What followed was about ten minutes of frantic, full body dodging, as Mister Fenton proved a wily and tenacious obstacle to all attempts at escape. Every time you made for the door, or even the windows, he was there, blocking you, while keeping up a never ending stream of blather about Ghosts. You had no idea how much of it was true or not, but you were certainly getting some solid escape and evasion practice.

It wasn't all bad though. Jazz chimed in every now and again, Danny ignored the madness and stuffed his face, and the other two adults made polite small talk. Vlad even seemed to have calmed down a bit from when you came in, the tension melting away.

On any other day you might not have a problem with this kind of training, or bonding, or whatever it was. Not today though. Today, you had somewhere to be. Somewhere you should be now actually!

You pulled out your official LORE Issue communication device and rang up the Kimmunicator. You needed to explain why you're running late! You get Mister Fenton to calm down temporarily by literally calling a timeout. Maybe you could exploit that to get out of here after you'd talked with Kim? You shrugged, and waited for Kim to pick up.

"Ron?" she asked worriedly, "What's the sitch? I thought you'd be back by now!"

"Yeah, Sorry KP, I've gotten held up at Mister Masters. Jazz's parents are visiting and Mister Fenton-" "JA-ACK!" -"...Jack is being really tenacious about not letting me leave."

"JACK FENTON!" Huh, you hadn't known Mrs Dr P was listening in, "You sit tight Ron! We'll be right there! Honey! Get the Roc-" annnd she's gone.  
"Kim, What just happened?"

"I have no idea Ron, but apparently we'll be right there? See you soon!"

"See you soon KP."

You turned off your communicator and turned to Vlad, "Uh, I guess the Possibles are going to be coming here shortly to get me?"

He hummed at that. Mrs Fenton's adopted a worried expression. "Ronald," she asked quickly, "That wouldn't happen to be Anne and James Possible would it?"

"Uh, yeah," you replied, "I've been best friends with their daughter Kim since Pre-K."

"Indeed," Vlad put in, "You might have heard of her before, World Famous Teen Hero Kim Possible? Why, she saved the entire midwest from volcanic doom just last year!"

You raised an eyebrow at that comment. Why was Vlad laying it on so thick? Sadly, your distraction cost you, as Mister Fenton barreled into you. "Breaks over Ronnie! Time to Rassle!"

Another five minutes of attempted escape from Mister Fenton later, you heard a roaring noise in the distance slowly becoming louder. It came to a crescendo and then suddenly faded away into silence. You looked up at Mister Fenton from your position in a headlock. "I think that's them," You said calmly.

He nodded once and let you go. A moment later, the front door to the Manor burst open and the entirety of Clan Possible exploded into the room. Jim and Tim descended on the food table like a pair of ravenous wolves, Kim made a beeline for you, and Mr and Mrs Dr P strode calmly into the suddenly silent room. If you didn't know better you'd think Mr Dr P was hiding behind his wife. You wouldn't blame him, because you've _never_ seen Mrs Dr P this worked up. Emotion was boiling off of her every movement, but there was so much of it that you couldn't tell whether she was furious or just really really worried about you. She looked you over carefully, nodded once then headed straight for Mrs Fenton.

"Madeleine," She said firmly.

"Anne!" Mrs Fenton said with surprise, "I thought it might be you but I wasn't sure! It's so good to see you again! It's been ages!"

Jazz looked from her mom to Mrs Dr P in confusion, "You two know each other?"

"Oh yes dear, Anne's my twin sister."

The entire room went silent. You, along with what seemed like EVERYONE ELSE looked from Mrs Dr P to Mrs Fenton and back again.

"What." Huh, you hadn't known Kim and Jazz could do the unison talking thing. And without even meeting each other!

"JIMBO!" And there's Mister Fenton on the attack again, at least he's not going after you this time.

"Yes Jack, it's nice to see you too," Mister Dr P sighed and either patted Mister Fenton's arms reassuringly or tried to tap out from the hold Mister Fenton had him in, "If you'll recall though I do still need to breath."

"Of course Jimbo! I totally forgot about that!" Mister Fenton immediately released Mr Dr P and dusted him off. You raised one eyebrow at Mister Dr P because as far as you knew he didn't have any chronic breathing problems. He rolled his eyes, and shook his head. Ah, right, a distraction, that made sense. Mister Fenton quickly stood back from Mr Dr P and looked around, his eyes falling on Jim, Tim, and Kim.

"Wait! Jimbo! I HAVE A NIECE?! AND NEPHEWS!?" He sounded surprised. That didn't bode well, "I HAVE SO MANY MISSED BIRTHDAYS AND HOLIDAYS TO MAKE UP FOR! WHO WANTS A FENTON GHOST ROCKET?"

Alright, so Mister Fenton knew enough to offer Mr Dr P's kids high explosives. Jim and Tim's hands were already reaching as high as they could. "Ah Jack," Vlad cut in, "Perhaps we should put a hold on the presents until things have calmed down a touch. It _is_ a family reunion after all."

"You're right Vladdie!" Mister Fenton called from the doorway, halfway to the RV, "I'll just start the kiddies off with some Fenton Thermoses!"

Vlad face palmed at that, before he rolled his eyes and shrugged in resignation. He turned to Mrs Fenton and Mrs Dr P. "Anne, Maddie, I do hope you can keep things civil? This is my home after all, and while I may have been in an isolation ward at the time, what I presume was your last meeting _did_ make the papers." He sighed, "They had to remodel the entire Student Union Building at UWM." He stared at nothing, "I don't think it helped though. You can still see the stains on the ceiling."

"I won't start anything if Anne won't Vlad. I never did," Mrs Fenton said calmly

"Hmph," Mrs Dr P snorted in reply, "Just try and show a bit more care around Ron than you do for scientific methodology and we'll be fine."

Mrs Fenton narrowed her eyes, "Fine," she said firmly.

"Fine!" Mrs Dr P replied.

Something told you it _wasn_ ' _t_ fine, but you were _so_ not getting into the middle of this. You turned to Kim and Jazz, who had been watching things like a tennis match, their heads going back and forth.

"So, you guys are cousins I guess?" you said questioningly.

Kim looked closely at Jazz, "Yeah, I guess so." She stuck out her hand, "I'm Kim Possible. Call me Kim."

Jazz looked at the hand and nodded once before taking it, "Jasmine Fenton. Call me Jazz. It's nice to meet you Kim."

"You too," Kim replied, "Ron's been talking a lot about you since you started your internship with Mister Masters."

You nodded reassuringly from behind Kim's back, while trying to make gestures that amounted to 'I said nothing about ghosts.' Jazz nodded slowly back at you, while keeping her eyes on Kim, "Right, Ron's told me a lot about you too. Would you like to compare notes?"

"That sounds like fun. I've got tons of dirt on this guy." Kim gestured back at you, "And it'd be nice to have someone to share some of it with."

Huh, that was nice. They were getting along! Even if it was at your expense, it was nice to see Jazz making a new friend. You thought she didn't have many of those, and Kim was an awesome friend to have, and you should know!

Still, as you took in a room filled with tense adults, twins hopped up on sugar, and more Christmas ornamentation than you can shake a stocking at, you were concerned. The split between Mrs Dr P and Mrs F had to have been serious if even Kim had no idea her mom had a twin sister. You'd just have to be careful, and do your best to help the Christmas spirit thrive here!

You weren't quite sure how it worked out that way, but somehow, it was agreed that Christmas dinner would be had here, at Masters Manor. You and Mr Dr P ended up heading back to Chez Possible to sort the food situation out while Mrs Dr P stayed at the Manor and kept an eye on things. Mister F was cannoning around the room singing Christmas Carols and doing his best to be a one man explosion of Christmas Cheer. Jim and Tim seemed to enjoy having a gigantic uncle to rough house with, and Kim and Jazz were a big part of why you decided to help Mr Dr P. You were _very_ glad to get away, because they kept talking to each other softly, then looking at you, looking back at one another, and then giggling. It was seriously freaksome. Danny kept himself to himself as far as you could tell, hovering between the food table and the fire, and not engaging with anyone for more than a few words. Finally, Vlad was playing mediator between Mrs Dr P and Mrs F, and making sure that things remained calm. You were kinda glad that wasn't your job. Keeping the peace between a pair of worked up super smart women did not sound like a fun time to you.

Still, things went surprisingly well. By the time you and Mr Dr P were back with the food, things had calmed down. There was laughing and smiling going on, and it felt like the Christmas spirit was thriving. Mr Dr P had been nice enough to let you know what topics _not_ to bring up if you wanted to keep things that way. Mostly it meant staying away from any kind of paranormal anything. He'd never gotten the full story, but something weird had happened when Mrs Dr P and Mrs F were in college that had changed the direction of their lives. Mrs F had gotten big into the paranormal sciences, and Mrs Dr P had ended up estranged from her twin sister. That sorta thing sounded familiar to you, and you knew how delicate any kind of relationship could be when big secrets were involved, so you did your best to keep any conversation well away from the weird.

You think you managed pretty well all things considered. Every time one of the moms looked like they were going to start building up a head of steam you cut them off at the knees. You'd known Mrs Dr P most of your life, and Jazz had given you multiple ranting in-depth analyses of her parents when she was venting after training. You just had to know what motivated them, and honestly? That was pretty much the same thing. Both of them loved their families dearly, even if Mrs F wasn't the best at showing it from Jazz's perspective. Still you knew well that just because parents could be grade-A weirdoes, it didn't mean they didn't love their kids. So you exploited that ruthlessly, throwing Kim and Jazz to the conversational wolves repeatedly, and even unleashing the nuclear option that was Mister F once or twice.

Vlad was a big help keeping the peace. It was weird, you didn't really see him as much of a mediator type of guy, but he was working overtime to keep the Fentons and the Possibles from combusting. In fairness, that might have something to do with the fact that the two families were having this fragile and unexpected reunion in _his house_. The prospect of two wildly volatile branches of a family of geniuses coming into open conflict in his living room would be enough to make even the most undiplomatic man alive try to be friendly.

Somehow, everybody got through the meal in one piece, and without any explosions. Well, beyond the time you all had to run out to make sure that the rocket Mr Dr P had attached to the Possible family van didn't go supercritical. Totally normal stuff really. Danny had even participated in some of the conversations without being forcibly dragged in by the metaphorical ear. Soon enough though it was time for the non-locals to be on their merry way.

"Jazz, we have _got_ to hang out while you're still here," you heard Kim say to Jazz as the three of you headed to the door, "It is so cool to have someone I can talk with about Mission stuff and Ron with."

"What about Monique, KP?" you asked curiously.

"Monique's great Ron, but she's not super into the save the world thing. She's a friend, but not a crime fighting type of friend," She gestured at Jazz, "Jazz on the other hand, has been way willing to talk martial arts and gymnastics with me. Like I said, it's super cool!"

You felt your face contort in surprise, before it smoothed out in understanding. Once you thought about it, it made sense. Kim was one of the best martial artists in the world, and Jazz was getting some serious combat training lately after a life focused on academics. She could use all the help she could get!

"Yeah Ron," Jazz put in, "I can use all the rational family I can get!"

You narrowed your eyes at the two of them as you and Kim made it to the door. "And this has nothing to do with any of that pointing and laughing you two were doing earlier?"

Kim and Jazz looked at each other in surprise, before shaking their heads quickly and talking over each other.

"Not at all Ron we-"

"So not the case Ron -"

"OK, OK!" you laughed, "Whatever you say girls. I'm just glad you guys are getting along. It's awesome that my two closest girl friends want to be friends!"

Jazz blushed for a minute and looked down, while Kim rolled her eyes and went a little pink herself. Heh, that redhead complexion always did mean that happened at the drop of a hat. You smiled at them and walked over to your bike, while the Possibles piled into the van.

"I'll follow you guys home, OK Mr Dr P?" you yelled towards them.

"Sure thing Ronald!" Mr Dr P yelled back from the driver's seat, "See you there!" And then they were headed out of the driveway, ready to finish off their own Christmas party. As you prepared to start up the bike, Jazz took a moment to stop you.

"Hey Ron, I was thinking," she seemed kinda conflicted about this, "Mr. Masters says he's going to start getting really into the combat teaching soon, and he said that I should start thinking about my style. I was a bit at a loss on what to go for though, since I haven't really done much fighting before the last month." Okay, that made sense.

"So what do you want, tips on what to do?" She nodded.

"Yeah, I had a few ideas already. The first is to let Mr. Masters have the reins in training me," She looked to the side after that, "the next two I came up with when I thought about what I want to do. I figured I'd like to help your club with the whole 'fighting monsters' thing. And I figured I could base what I do off of what could help you. I could cover your weaknesses, or play to your strengths." Yeah, that sounded pretty cool. You two had been training together for a while now, and having another superpowered person on your team who could work with you specifically _was_ kinda cool. Still, you weren't completely sure whether or not this was your decision to make.

"Are you sure you want my input on that? I'm not exactly the most… _educated_ on formal styles and stuff." She nodded.

"I know that, dummy. That's why I went for something really general, you know? I'm pretty sure I can work out the rest with Mr. Masters and you. I just wanted your opinion on this." Well, that was something. You were sure Mr. Masters could work with. It was just a small start, after all.

"Okay, then I say you should…"

[] Play to my strengths: Emergent Style- Revenant. Weapon of choice- Spectral Swords. Style, CqC Aggression.

[] Cover my weaknesses: Emergent Style- Banshee. Weapon of choice- Ghost Guns. Style, Ranged Support.

 **[] Listen to Mr. Masters: Emergent Style- Phantasm. Weapon of choice- Ecto Energy. Style, Jack of All Trades**


	29. Week 13 pt 2- No Justice

The matter with Jazz aside, you still weren't sure you'd made the right choice there, you woke up on the 26th much more easily than you had for the past few weeks.

Apparently, the Christmas fiasco was something you'd really needed, huh? As you got dressed today you couldn't help but feel a lot more loose than you'd been, as if some small weight was lifted off your shoulders. As you got up and stretched a bit, your phone started buzzing with the familiar theme you'd gotten for Kim (Wade managed to make the Kimmunicator sound a ringtone, it was pretty popular too!). You picked it up while putting your shirt on.

"Hey Kim, you wanna hang out?" A sigh rang from the other side of the line.

"I wish. GJ called in for some help, actually. Dr. Director wants both of us ready as soon as possible." Well, that kinda sucked. But hey, you could work with that. You'd just change today's wardrobe to one of the 'extra storage' cargo pant pairs Señor Senior Junior got you for Christmas. He'd figured that you could use some more space to throw guns if you knew you were going somewhere dangerous.

And a trip to GJ headquarters always seemed to have a 30% chance of some villain breaking out. So, just to be safe, you added in a little bit more 'insurance' should worse come to worst.

All nonlethally loaded, of course. You didn't expect something like a vampire attack or spontaneous werewolves in GJ headquarters, and Dr Director would probably frown on killing human villains. Once you had everything set, you called Kim back as you walked out of the door.

"Okay, I'm ready. Where does GJ want us to g-" Suddenly, you felt your body being pulled backwards and then downwards. A few seconds of sliding down some sort of slope later, and you found yourself staring at the face of DR director. She nodded at you.

"Ronald," You could hear a small noise as Kim dropped down right next to you, "Kimberly. It's very nice to see both of you this morning." You nodded while Kim gave a smile before asking the question you both had.

"So what do you need help with today?" Dr Director pointed at the screen, to the picture of a very familiar face.

"Is tha-" Dr. Director cut you off before you could finish.

"Yes, Ronald. That is Gil Moss. He had previously been adopted by the scientist in charge of reversing his mutation, however his adoptive father sent in a missing person's report yesterday. He has a history of disappearing now and then, but not for such a long period of time," Crud, "He's concerned that Gil is up to his old tricks, and would like Global Justice to open an investigation. I assume you're both up to the challenge." You reacted just as Kim did.

"Of course!"

"NO!" Kim paused at that, before looking at you, along with everyone else in the room. Dr Director was the first to speak up.

"Is there a problem, Ronald?" Oh, well. Jeez. You probably should have kept your mouth shut. Now you had to figure out your way to deflect, fast.

"Uuh, well, I mean, I don't really think that we're people qualified to find missing people. You know, you've got a lot more… investigationally inclined ones out there for sure, right?" Kim blew out a bit of air.

"Come on, Ron! We've got Wade on our side, and he's at least as good as Global Justice's best." True, but not what you were looking for.

"But what if he's mutant freak Gill again? I mean, that seems like something that'd take more than one or two people, right?" Dr Director sighed.

"Well then, I can arrange for Agent D-"

"NOT HAPPENING." Kim reflected that offer vehemently, "Ron and I can do well enough, thank you very much." Well, you really didn't want to do this, but you guessed there wasn't any better way to confront the issue.

"Uuh, [i]you[/i] can handle that Kim," you sighed, "I, however, will not. Nothing will make me return to that Place of Evil ever again!" Kim started to put up her puppy dog pout, but you'd already averted your gaze. Dr Director sighed.

"Then I can have something arranged," she tapped the side of her ear, "Agents Samantha, Clover, and Alex please report to the command center. I've got a job for you. Meet with Kim Possi-" The squee you heard from the other end of the communicator was indication enough that they'd be on their way.

"Well then, I think that's my cue to leave…" You began to turn towards the exit before Dr Director's voice cut you off.

"Ronald, I would like to have a talk with you in my office if you have the time." Well, you were here, so you couldn't say you didn't without looking really suspicious. She motioned for you to follow her while you heard the sound of pounding feet from behind you.

Well, at least Kim was in good hands. Dr Director swiped a keycard by a door emblazoned with her name, before motioning for you to enter. The room was fairly spartan, with a comfy looking chair on the other side of a luxurious yet heavily organized desk. Beside it was a decidedly less comfortable looking chair, that you assumed was yours. Sitting down, Dr Director took her seat and faced you, arranging her hands into a pyramid.

"Ronald." You nodded, trying to diffuse the feeling creeping up your back.

"Dr. Director." She looked you in the eyes, well [i]eye[/i]. She held her gaze for a few seconds, before pressing something on her desk. There was a beeping noise from across the room, like something was powering down.

"Just so you know, this talk is completely off the records, in case any sensitive information comes up. Ronald, I believe you know more than you're letting on about the Gil situation," Yeah, this wasn't going to be a fun talk, was it.

"What makes you think that? Why wouldn't I tell someone if that happened." She nodded, but continued.

"I believe that you would do so unless you either were told not to, or suspected that Gil would be in danger," she paused, "Do you believe Gil Moss is in danger, Ronald?"

"I don't." He couldn't really be in danger if he was dead.

"You said that with a fair bit of confidence," well, it was a fact… and now she knew you had more than you were letting on. Drat, "Are you sure you won't be able to make everyone's lives easier?"

"Uuh, not really?" Admitting you disposed of his corpse half a week ago wouldn't make anything easier, no.

"Good, now do you believe that Gil would be in any danger if he returned to his father?"

"Not that I know of, no." You didn't actually know Gil had an adoptive father until five minutes ago, so you couldn't really go either way on that.

"Then can you perhaps tell me where Gil Moss currently is, and spare everybody the work?"

"I… [i]could[/i]..." Dr Director's good eye rolled to the ceiling.

"I know you have the information. Make my life easier, and tell me where Gil Moss currently is."

"...No." Her fists slammed on the desk's counter.

"Dammit, Ronald! You have the information we need to retrieve a missing person and help a newly formed family get back together, WHY ARE YOU WITHHOLDING INFORMATION?" You looked away from her.

"You want to know where Gil is so badly?"

"YES! Please, make everyone's lives easier." You sighed.

"Currently, I believe what's left of him is busy serving as fertilizer in some third world country."

The silence on the other end was almost palpable, and continued on for half a minute before Dr. Director finally broke it.

"I need a drink." You nodded.

"Feel free to get one. I know this isn't exactly a fun subject."

"I make it a rule not to imbibe on the job," she sighed, "although now I need to ask. [i]Why[/i] is Mr Moss currently busy being fertilizer rather than being a productive, and living, member of society?"

"He was going active around Lowerton, back in Wannaweep. Doing experiments on animals with some concentrated lagoon of the lake's stuff. I went with some friends to stop him." She quirked her eyebrows.

"Not Kim?"

"I didn't want to waste her time if I was wrong, not when most of the time she's busy saving geographic areas the size of Utah or helping rescue people from natural disasters," You looked down to the floor, "To be honest, I guess I kinda wanted my guess to be wrong. I didn't want to have to deal with Gil, or those... [i]things[/i] he was making."

"But you ended up in there anyway."

"Yup. We went looking for him, leaving behind a friend of mine to serve as an escape vehicle in case things got dicey," You pinched the bridge of your nose, "He took her into the forest, we ended up in a confrontation, and she got dumped into the tainted swamp so he could escape. I wasn't having that, and chased him down with Shego."

"Shego was with you?"

"Yeah, she's been helping hunt monsters during her free time. So, we beat him up."

"And that's when he was shot?" You let out what was probably the heaviest sigh you'd ever had.

"No. We got him to surrender, probably bruised him halfway to death in the process, and then he started talking about how this was all a game and I should treat him like any other villain. And then I shot him." Dr Director's face took on a very hard cast.

"No, you didn't shoot Gil, Ronald. You [i]executed[/i] him," she sighed, before rubbing her face, "I think you should be glad I took all of this off the record, Ronald. What you just said could be considered a confession to homicide, if it got out." And then you couldn't help but feel like it would be better if you could just fold into the chair.

"Loo-"

"I know Ronald, you had your reasons. Everyone does. I can even believe that you'd been told what you did was the right and proper thing by those… [i]associates[/i] you've started hanging around. However, it is my place to inform you that even though you choose to be a part of that world, this one's rules still apply. I can understand why you made the choice, you weren't in control of yourself and did something stupid. It doesn't make it right."

"But he treated this all like a game, Dr Director!" She laughed.

"And that's an amazing thing, Ronald. A villain who thinks that this," she motioned to the whole area, "is just a game isn't one who's desperate enough to hold a bunch of people hostage when the police come. Geniuses who don't feel their talent is something that will get them killed is a [i]massive[/i] step up from the way things were before."

"And if people like my friends get hurt because they aren't stopped, because they keep coming?" She shrugged.

"Then that's a regrettable cost of the system. It's one I'd be willing to pay a hundred times over if it means innocent people never have to deal with the alternative."

"Chernobyl?" She nodded.

"That incident is a key point in showing why my philosophy is necessary. Had Steven not ignored my counsel and gone off to perpetuate this hateful cycle like an idio-" Okay, yeah. You hadn't meant to cut her off so violently, but the fact that she was speaking so ill of Mr B, when he was someone you'd come to respect so much wasn't going to fly.

"That isn't what caused that tragedy, and you know it." Her face contorted a bit, likely unintentionally, as her eyebrow shot up.

"Oh, and then what would be the cause for all those deaths, then, if it wasn't because one of us decided that acting like a damned [i]murderer[/i] was the proper way to go about things?" Well, now you were officially mad.

"Perhaps the fact that neither," your hands tightened into fists, "of you could have acted mature enough to shelve your own issues until after people weren't in danger. That neither of you had the wherewithal to admit that [i]maybe[/i] whether or not the bad guy dies was the least of your worries at the moment. The fact that you couldn't have worked out your issues, even by flipping a stupid coin, to the point where you [i]both[/i] compromised a mission just to prove a point," you spat to the side, "and now people are dead because of it." Dr Director seemed… oddly calm about this.

"Oh, and I assume you're mature enough to keep from doing that yourself, huh?" You nodded.

"Yeah, if it's between Kim and me, Kim's opinion wins. I'm the sidekick, she's the hero. I follow her rules. And even if I didn't, I would have come up with some way to work things out. Lives are more important to me than principles, [i]Betty[/i]." And now she was smiling. But you could tell there was something off about i-

"Get the hell out of my office now, Stoppable. Before I do something I regret."

Yeah, you knew when you weren't wanted.

XxX

As you stormed out of Dr. Director's office, you fumed in silence. Yeah, you understood that what you did wasn't the best thing, but insulting Mr B for something he'd been suffering [i]for[/i] years about? No, that was too far. You were more than ready to eat a slice of humble pie, not whatever [i]that[/i] was. The tension in your arms increased as your knuckles whitened a tiny bit more then you'd wanted them to, or had thought possible for that matter. You took a deep breath, and unballed your fists.

Yeah, you [i]really[/i] needed to chill out right now, before you did something stupid. That meant you needed to find something that would calm you down. Probably through dumb, repetitive, therapeutic action.

You needed a gun range. Luckily, a place like the GJ base would have to have at least [i]one[/i] of those, right? It struck you as a pretty basic agent training facility. Still, after about ten minutes of aimlessly wandering through the facility, you started to think that maybe you'd had the wrong idea.

The next corner you turned rang with the sound of combat. It wasn't exactly what you were looking for, but it was good enough.

Besides, it meant the GJ agents could benefit from fighting you. So it was all good, right? When you entered the room and saw its occupants, however, your spirits dropped. A bunch of Global Justice members, they looked like trainees, were currently busy getting the tar beaten out of them by a very familiar face. Once they all slumped back against the walls, WIll Du nodded towards you.

"Stoppable. Did you need something?" You looked around a bit. The place was pretty nice. Dummies littered the far corner of the room, which some of the trainees were practicing on. Above you were large sheets of glass, likely for people wishing to observe the fight (though you couldn't see through them very well from down here). Below the windows, the walls were lined with safety padding that totally didn't make it look like part of an insane asylum!

You could work with this.

"I was looking to have a small spar. You know, maybe loosen myself up a little?" you rolled your shoulders, "Come on, throw some of your newbies at me." You began to bounce on the balls of your heels a little, trying to assume a boxing position like they showed in the movies, even throwing a few shadow punches for effect. Will snorted at your amazingly cool display, as did a few of the other trainees.

"I think that even our newest recruits would be too much of a challenge for you," Well, that stung, "So I think, in the interest of not wasting anyone's time, that it would be best if you just stood aside and let the [i]professionals[/i] work." Okay, that was worse. And now your hands were balled up into fists again. Sadly, you knew you couldn't just hammer at him until you got what you wanted. No, you'd need to hit him where it hurt- his ego. You turned to one of the agents that was busy snickering at you.

"So, is he really this arrogant all of the time, or is he just afraid a high school sophomore might beat him?" The nearby agents chuckled as Will's fists balled up, "Then again, I'm not sure how his ego can sustain itself when he's the fourth best agent on the base right now." The former-top agent of Global Justice cracked his neck, before turning towards you with a particularly neutral smile.

"Okay, amateur, I can play ball," He rolled his shoulders, and smirked at you "Teaching you a lesson on respect might be just the warmup I need for the little rematch I've been hoping to have with Ms. Possible." You shrugged. Will started to move, beginning to circle you while you did the same. The fight, such as it was, had begun.

"If you want to get your butt kicked by Kim again, be my guest." Seriously, did this guy not know the definition of insanity? It was a fight he'd lose every time. Kim was just that good.

Will started to retort, before shutting his mouth as you darted forward, your fists gliding towards his body faster than you normally could to catch him off guard. However, Will hadn't been GJ's top agent for nothing. He sidestepped, deflecting your blows easily before throwing a few of his own toward your core. Luckily, your lessons with Jazz started to show their benefits. The punches he threw were nowhere near as fast as the ecto-covered Dodgeballs Mr. Masters loved to train the pair of you with. You sprung backwards, letting his swipes meet nothing but air to the chuckles of the rookie agents around you.

Your eyes met his, and his body flew forwards in a series of short kicks. It was fast, but you'd been Kim's test dummy for a similar style years ago. You knew the best ways to mitigate those blows. It was simple to divert them to the side using quick shifts and dodges around Will's flying feet of fury. You countered with a roundhouse kick, your left foot flying forward, only for Will to reach out with his right hand and quickly redirect it to the ground. He countered with a quick jab to your lower abdomen, which stung pretty badly.

You backed off, making sure to get enough distance between him and yourself to catch the little bit of your breath you'd lost. When he rushed towards your position, you used his momentum to judo throw him towards the mat. The cushioned surfaces resounded with a pretty solid impact, if not a particularly painful one. Before he could gather himself up, you were on him pinning the secret agent to the floor even as he struggled against you. Finally, however, he went limp. You smirked at him.

"Giving up already?" Will shook his head, before wiggling his arms a bit.

"No, I'm simply choosing to take you seriously now," there was a small clicking noise, "amateur."

You fell to the ground as the watch's taser prongs connected to your chest. Now prone, he rolled your limp body aside and brushed himself off. He walked over to the other recruits, completely ignoring you to talk with them.

"You see, this is the difference between a professional and someone who could only hope to be a Global Justice intern." No.

They chuckled, as Rufus crawled out of your pocket and tried slapping your face. You couldn't move. You sucked in air as fast as you could, hoping for some function to restore to your body. Your heart was pounding against your chest as fast as it could. One of the trainees looked over to you.

"Hey Will, are you sure this kid's okay? You dig peg him in the chest, after all." He nodded.

"Of course. He's breathing, isn't he?"

"Maybe he shouldn't be." One of the others barked out, and the rest of the group burst out laughing. Except for Will.

"No. Life is sacred, even one as foolish as him." Stop. You had to make this stop. "Though I will admit he was good enough that I had to expend the taser round I had been intending for Miss Possible, so perhaps I underestimated him." Your fists twitched a little bit, moving towards forming a fist. They didn't notice, though, they were too hung up in their conversation.

Still, you could feel your heart attempting thrash out of it's cage to get your body to do something, [i]anything[/i] to move. It kept getting louder and louder in your ears, as your fists gradually tightened a little bit further with each laugh. As your fists turned completely pale, your heart seemed to reach some peak.

Then it stopped, and everything was calm. Your mind seemed to right itself in that moment, letting your body go limp. Slowly, you let out a small breath as your heart restarted, realising something as your body let go of the tension.

Those assholes really needed to be taken down a peg. They were still busy laughing it up, even as one of them pointed to you with tears in his eyes.

It funny to watch the mirth drain from his face as you rolled up to a kneeling position and pulled the submachine gun from your expanded right pocket right before Rufus jumped into it. The barking laugh you let out when the taser round hit was probably a bit crueler than you'd intended. But watching a bunch of meatheads get taken out by a spray of nonlethal rounds on full auto was totally worth it.

Everyone except for Will, who used one of the other idiots as a meatshield. He tossed the trainee to the back with the others, and the poor guy hit the ground with a groaning thud. He nodded towards you.

"It has seemed I underestimated you twice, Stoppable. However, I would recommend against holding back," He cracked his neck, before adopting a readied position again, "especially when I am your opponent." With a wicked grin, you threw the SMG to the ground. Your turtleneck fell to the ground so you could gain access to the pair of pistols you'd strapped on your back. But you weren't going to use them. Not yet. You pulled the zipper on your left pocket and pulled out the sawed-off you'd been keeping there.

"Trust me, if you want a fight now, Will, you've got it." He looked down to the gun you were holding in confusion.

"How did you manage to store a gun like that so easily?" You shrugged.

"Cargo pants, man. Oh, and don't worry. All of these guns are loaded with nonlethal ammo. Sure," You pumped the shotgun, just to make sure there wasn't a live round in there, "these tranq darts will hurt, but I made sure to get the smallest needles I could. 14 gauge is pretty tiny compared to 23 gauge, you know?" There was silence as Will looked you straight in the eye.

"You do realize needle gauges are inversely proportional, right?" Your eyebrow rose, and he sighed, "Smaller gauge, larger needle."

"Ooh," You hefted the gun, "Well, yeah. Then this will [i]probably[/i] hurt if you get hit. I'd really recommend dodging." He'd already begun to roll as you let off the first round, which impacted into the wall with a loud thunk. You pumped the thing just as he closed in, but before he could hope to get a hit in with his fists, you decided to try something new.

His face when the shotgun's stock smashed into his arm was priceless. You used the moment of shock to dart away and fire off another round, emptying the gun completely. Will dodged it again, this time dropping to the ground before springing up to strike at your feet. You saw that coming, however, and jumped over him after throwing the empty shotgun into his face. While he was busy trying not to get hit with your actual gun, you'd made sure to pull out the first pistol you had. Holding it like Mr Barkin had taught everyone, you advanced slowly while firing the Henchco low-velocity rubber bullets you'd managed to get from Señor Senior Senior. He did his best to deflect those with his arms as he approached you, but your assault was clearly wearing him down. Sadly, once he was in range, all thoughts of shooting your gun went out of the window. He attacked with a speed you hadn't thought possible for anyone but Kim before, throwing flurries of punches and raining dozens of kicks down that you could only barely deflect. You held your own, waiting for an opportunity, any really, to make your shot.

Wait, did you really need one, so long as the gun wasn't pointing at you? Testing your theory, you fired a single shot towards his general vicinity. He was so close that he couldn't defend himself when the rubber bullet glanced off his right eyebrow and gave him a black eye. That was proof enough for you. It was something you could use to curb this onslaught. In the middle of his melee assault, the second pistol came out in your left hand.

And nothing was that same. Suddenly, you were able to fight back against his tide of hits, blocking what you could with the metal gun barrels and firing even at such close quarters (while thanking god Señor Senior Senior got you these low-gunpowder yield soft-impact bullets). You were both accumulating more wounds as time went on, a bruise here or there, but as seconds blurred into minutes you knew you were gaining the upper hand. He just couldn't adapt to the addition of close quarter gunfire, and you knew you could do this, you could win thi-

And then you first gun ran dry. The clicking encouraged him, but it wouldn't stop you. You kept firing, even though you knew the second would go out sooner rather than later. When it did finally hit empty, you did what your gut was telling you to do.

So you whipped the pistol at Will's face, which was enough to get him to stop his assault so he could prevent fracturing his jaw. While he did that, you let go of the weapon, rolled back and reloaded the remaining gun. He started to move towards you, but you wouldn't have that. You shot at him and stood up, making sure you had room to retreat. However, he didn't advance. Instead he bowed towards you.

"I apologize, Ronald. It seems I have underestimated your own skills greatly. However, I think further fighting shall only serve to damage us rather than prove anything. So, I think it is high time we ended this. It is your victory. Though it grates me to say it, you've earned it more than I have." Huh. Well, that was a thing. It seems pretty much all of the anger you'd held was worked out by the intensity of the fight. Before you could say anything, though, the door opened up and Kim jumped out, and froze pretty much as soon as she hit the mat.

"RON, you're okay!" She seemed torn between hugging you and trying to tackle Will right now.

"He is. In fact, he won our match seconds ago, Ms. Possible." She shot a glare over at him.

"I'm not going to take your word for it, Mr. 'Tazes my best friend'," She turned back to you, "Are you sure everything is fine?" You nodded.

"Of course it is, Kim. We just got a little roughed up. You didn't see any of the match?" She shook her head.

"No. I was too busy trying to run to save you…" she scratched the back of her head, "And I might have gotten a little bit lost on the way. I realized I'd gone to far down a hallway when I found a shooting range." OH COME ON?! Why did she find what you were looking for first?

"Look, KP. I'm fine. I think I just need a little rest after that battle," You looked over to Will with a smirk, "Though I did think he was talking about possibly having a rematch with you, if he's still up for it." He shook his head.

"No thank you. I wouldn't want to face Ms. Possible when I wasn't at my best. I wouldn't want to give her any unnecessary handicaps." She let out a chuckle at that.

"You wouldn't be able to beat me on a good day, Will. Even if you had your dirty tricks." He shrugged.

"Whatever you say, Ms. Possible. However, I believe it is time for me to leave. I still have a mission to do soon, and Dr Director wants nothing but the best on her team. I can hardly say I was busy having a bit of fun." Kim snorted.

"You call that fun? Beating up Ron for entertainment seems a bit more like a villain's mindset." Agent Du shrugged.

"I enjoy challenges," He chuckled, "And besides, I don't think Ronald was getting beat up nearly as much as you're thinking." She flushed a little in embarrassment.

"Right, sorry Ron. The whole 'really good at fighting' thing is still a bit new to me." You nodded. Heck, it was still a bit new to you too! The gun stuff came pretty much out of nowhere, but now you were probably going to try incorporating that more heavily with your own fighting style. It [i]was[/i] pretty cool, after all. Kim turned to you.

"Well, we should get going. I'm pretty sure Dr Director doesn't need much else from us. She even called us off the mission right before we were about to lift off!" Well, that was a relief. You didn't really want Wade poking around Wannaweep if you could prevent it.

"Yeah, maybe we should get going," you paused, "By the way, how were the agents Dr Director had you working with." Kim smiled.

"I like them. You'll have to meet them later. Dr Director did say something about working with them later if I wanted to take missions with them." Oh, nice. You didn't exactly think you'd be welcome here for the next few weeks, but having new friends was always pretty good! As you began to leave, you looked on the bright side of things!

At least today wasn't a total bust for [i]Kim[/i].


	30. Week 13 pt 3- A Cuddly Crusade

So.

It's Wednesday.

D-Day.

You're finally going to make some damn progress on helping Tara. It was your fault after all. You were the one who didn't cover the contingencies correctly, who let Gill get the drop on her and got her turned into an otter-girl. Drakken had everything he needed to fix it. Except for one crucial component he couldn't quite figure out, something that would let him casually analyze and recreate genetic blueprints. His present tech for the job was too slow, and when you'd asked for what he'd need to speed things up he'd told you that only one woman had what he needed. DNAmy.

So, you were going to have to raid the laboratory of another supervillain to get what you needed. DNAmy's obsession with genetic engineering and creating chimeric lifeforms meant she had exactly what Drakken would need to help Tara, and you had precisely zero problems stealing from a woman who was willing to turn hapless hikers into hybrid horrors. Especially under [i]these[/i] circumstances.

The hovercraft sped over miles of empty forest before you finally saw DNAmy's compound on the horizon. The cockpit was silent. You, Shego, and Junior had gone over the mission briefing before you'd set out, and were presently operating under complete radio silence. None of you would utter so much as a single word until you were back in the hovercraft with what you needed. There would be no screw ups on this operation. It was too important.

The hovercraft touched down outside the guard perimeter. DNAmy favored using roving patrols of Grizzly Wolves to guard the outside of her bases. The last time you and Kim had raided one of DNAmy's bases, KP had told you that they were one of the more obscure cuddlebuddies. You didn't really care about that, you were more worried about the fact that the combination of a bear's sense of smell and sheer strength and a wolf's pack instinct and endurance seriously made for deadly and dangerous guards. The three of you were equipped with a bit of experimental tech that Drakken had provided during the briefing. Scent blockers, which, when combined with your stealth suits, should keep you from detections by any mutant relying on their sense of smell.

You moved swiftly and stealthily through the trees, pausing only briefly at the fence to make sure all three of you got over without a hitch. You dashed across the yard of the compound, and Junior hacked the entry pad in twenty seconds flat. He'd really been taking the whole Rival thing seriously. If he kept this up you'd have to up your game to keep him on his toes.

Your team entered the compound proper and made a bee-line for DNAmy's recombination laboratory. The base blueprints that Shego had provided during mission planning had indicated that the crucial bit of tech you'd need would be there, ripe for the taking. Amy primarily relied on mutant henchmen rather than technological security, so your temporarily upgraded stealth suits would keep you from being noticed, as long as all of you kept your eyes on the prize.

None of the doors inside the compound were secured, and the lab itself was wide open. You supposed that Amy thought that no unauthorized visitors would be able to get this far without one of her little monsters catching them. Your team had been forced to take to the ceiling once or twice to avoid a group of patrolling monkey-squid or two, but overall you had no problems making it to the lab undetected.

The complex itself was a smorgasbord of high tech doodads. You had no idea what most of this stuff did, but the briefing had helpfully included a picture of the Recombinator . The three of you fanned out, and not five minutes later you'd found what you needed. You raised a hand to signal to Shego and Junior that it was time to exfiltrate. Shego caught your signal and nodded in response, falling in behind you as you moved out. Junior... didn't.

You only noticed when the two of you were in the hallway outside the lab that he wasn't right behind you. You looked back into the room to find him staring at a single cuddlebuddy enshrined on a silk cushion on top of a pedestal of white marble. It looked like some unholy mixture of a big cat and a bull, though what part of that gave it a gigantic pompadour you didn't know. What the hell was Junior thinking!?

You were just about to break the radio silence and yell at him when he beat you too it. "THE LIMITED EDITION CHAMPIONSHIP PUMA-BULL WITH REAL STYLEABLE HAIR!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. Well, great, now you had to run! There was no way that DNAmy didn't have at least one mutant with super hearing!

You decided to multitask. First, you rolled your eyes while turning and running for the door to the lab. Then, as you fled you yelled back over your shoulder, "It's bug out time Junior! Chop Chop!"

You didn't see how he reacted because you and Shego were running full steam out of DNAmy's compound. The two of you made it outside without a hiccup, and took the fence at a dead run, heading straight for the hovercraft.

Miraculously, you didn't run into any trouble at all. The two of you made it from the lab to the hovercraft with the dohickey without seeing hide nor hair of a single hybrid. Shego turned to look at you, "So," she said dryly, "We leaving Junior to face the music?"

"No," you sighed deeply in resignation, "We'll at least give him a chance to make it back to the hovercraft. If we end up up to our elbows in Grizzly Wolves though, all bets are off."

"Solid decision making Sidekick," Shego drawled, "I'll just get the motor running just in case then?"

You nodded furiously, "Hell yes get the motor running! Grizzly Wolves are scary!"

A moment later, after the roar of the hovercraft's engines turning on died down to the thrum of regular running you heard the roaring barks of the Grizzly Wolves. Great, now you'd probably have to explain to Señor Senior Senior why his son had been turned into some kind of Trout man. You were [i]not[/i] looking forward to that conversation!

Thankfully, all thoughts of Señor Senior Junior the Man-Fish went right out of your mind when you saw him burst from the treeline, holding the [i]very same cuddlebuddy he broke cover for![/i] You sighed again and shrugged in resignation, well at least he had his priorities straight. You gestured wildly for him to hurry it up and get into the hovercraft.

He was already running at full tilt though, and a moment after he appeared you saw why. He was being chased by DNAmy's entire Grizzly Wolf pack. There had to be more than a dozen of the things baying for his blood! Your eyes widened and you gestured even more furiously for him to pick up the pace. You wanted to explain to his father about him being torn to shreds even less than if about him becoming a living plush toy imprisoned by a mad geneticist!

"MOVE IT JUNIOR!" you yelled at the top of your lungs. He heard you, and nodded once in acknowledgement while continuing to run towards the hovercraft at as fast as he could. As he closed in, he took a flying leap into the backseat of the cockpit, landing on his stomach across the seat. Shego, who had been watching his flight from the pack of slavering carnivorous mutants with a raised eyebrow, immediately threw the controls into full flight mode, and the hovercraft blasted into the heavens.

You stared down at Junior, panting breathlessly in the backseat and hugging his prize to his chest like a lifeline.

"What the hell was that man?!" You asked sharply, "You broke protocol and almost got us caught!"

"Ron Stoppable!" He cried out, "Do you not know what this is?!" He raised the Cuddlebuddy over his head in triumph. "This is the ultra rare, limited edition, Championship Reward Puma-Bull Cuddlebuddy with real life styleable hair! It is the only one of its kind in existence! And that madwoman has given him a pompadour!"

You stared at him, struck dumb for a moment by the sheer nonsensical insanity of his answer. After taking a moment to pinch yourself and realize that yes, one of your teammates had jeopardized the entire mission over a plush novelty toy, you sighed deeply, [i]again[/i], and asked, "And that's important because?"

Junior took a moment to look from side to side and make sure there wasn't anyone listening in. How there could be at more than a thousand feet in the air you didn't know, but at least he was being cautious [i]now[/i]. He leaned in and whispered in your ear, "It is the one present I did not receive as a child. Father would not buy it for me. Apparently, the original owner was a young orphan with a terrible illness or somesuch and he was unwilling to take from her the dearest dream of her young life. He found her tale so heartwarming that he paid all her medical bills!" Junior sighed, "After her, the Puma-Bull passed from collector to collector, always one step ahead of me! Now, finally, I have found it!" He brandished it in front of himself like a talisman!

"Yeah, maybe don't hold the rare collectible out in the open air when we're flying in a jet powered hovercraft," Shego put in. Junior immediately held the toy closely to his chest and looked around fearfully. "Still," she continued, "That's real sweet of Daddy Big bucks. DIdn't know the old guy cared that much about orphans.

"I believe there was also something about PR and duty or something of that sort," Junior replied. "I am unsure. I did not listen very hard after he told me he could not acquire the Puma-Bull."

You sighed deeply again and shook your head. Whatever. You had the device Drakken needed, nobody got caught or eaten by a pack of rabid mutants made from the deadliest parts of apex predators, and you were in the clear. Tara would be able to get the help she needed!

As the hovercraft shot towards Drakken's lair at breakneck speed you smiled to yourself. Things were looking up!

XxX

The ride home today let you out early in the afternoon, which was surprising given how far away DNAmy's base was. Then again, you weren't sure Shego's hovercraft even [i]had[/i] a speedometer. Even if it did, given what you knew about her you concluded it would probably be best that you didn't think about those things. And how hard a crash would hur-

Yeah, ending this thought process right here. That train lead straight to bad road you really didn't want to deal with right now. As you prepared to walk home, your phone buzzed with an incoming call from Kim. You flipped open the thing with a smile on your face. Maybe you'd be able to hang out?

"Hey Kim. What's the sitch?" Yeah, that sounded like a good da-

"We just got a report that Shego was seen with two others robbing one of DNAmy's labs! Wade's getting a ride together right now." Your smile fell. It was probably best you didn't take this up. The animals probably still had your scent.

"I think I'll have to bail on you, KP. I'm really sorry." You could hear the groan from the other side of the speaker.

"Come on Ron! You can't just leave me hanging here. I really don't want to deal with her alone." Yeah, neither did you. Especially when you were just part of the team that robbed her.

"Yeah, but you're not the one that will end up getting attacked by whatever freak of nature she's cooked up this time. And besides, with my luck it'll be part [i]monkey[/i]." You were lucky enough that there weren't any on your run. The thought of what creepy creatures she could concoct out of those horrible animals was enough to make you shiver. "And besides, it probably won't lead anywhere big. She probably just lost another one of her cuddle buddies or something and forgot where it was."

"BUT THAT'S EVEN MORE IMPORTANT!" You held the phone away from Kim's loud, reflexive response. A part of you knew it was coming, but another part of you was oddly annoyed. You'd dealt with enough of the dumb plushies yourself for one day.

"Then you better get going. I don't think I'd be much help there anyway. I can't tell a polar bridger and from a pandaboo." You could hear the exasperated sigh from the side of the phone.

"It's a polar badger and pandaroo, Ron."

"My point exactly. Look, you'll do fine on your own. I'd probably only get in the way here. Good luck." With that, you hung up on her before she could try guilting you or break out the puppy dog pout. You'd had an exhausting enough day already. You didn't need to add hating yourself just a little bit more on top of everything else. Before you could take another step, your phone buzzed again. With a sigh, you flipped it open. Kim probably got Wade to use someone else's number.

"Look Kim I-"

"While I'm admittedly flattered that you'd compare me to such a famous figure Ronald," A very male voice replied back, "I am not your heroic companion." Whoops.

"Sorry about that Mr Masters. You wanted to talk?"

"Yes. I was wondering if you were free today. I was hoping you'd be able to help Jazz train today. After all, you did seem to take a more active role in helping her pick her style on Christmas." Ah, he heard about that. Yeah, you couldn't really argue with that being held over you. Besides, it would give you an excuse to do something other than stay home. Just in case Kim decided to recruit you a bit more... [i]actively[/i] for her mission. You were still in something approaching mission gear, which you figured could also double as motorcycle gear. You even had a few guns on you. Maybe you'd be able to experiment a little bit with what you'd managed in the fight with Will. It felt like something you could build on, even if it was only a little.

Yeah, the more you thought about it, the more the idea appealed to you.

"...Is your silence a yes or no, Ronald?" Oh, right. You were still talking to him.

"Yeah, I'll be there. I'm starting up my bike now. See you soon." You hung up and kicked off to start the thing. Seconds later, you were blasting off towards the Master Mansion. A few minutes of burnt rubber behind you, you were there. You walked through the door, giving a nod to the butler who you were pretty sure was a ghost. You proceeded through the big house until you hit the training room. It only took one accidental turn into the bathroom before you got it right this time! Vlad was already there, in his ghost form and looking ready to work out. Beside him, Jazz was also ghosted, and gave you a small wave when you looked at her. Once you stopped moving, Mr. Master began to speak.

"Ronald, I believe it is time to increase the intensity of both of your training regimens. Now, I have spoken previously about helping Jasmine develop a style. I still hold to that idea, and I believe she has shown some initiative in the matter," You tried your best to ignore the minor, annoyed tick in his voice, "I figured it would be best to have you two working together, as that is her wish." You nodded. That made sense to you.

"So, what are we gonna do? Some ghostly obstacle course, a badical series of montage exercises, or maybe some more brutal cooperative practice?" Mr Masters smiled.

"Oh, I had an idea myself. You will be sparring." You looked at him.

"Okay, but didn't you say we'd be working together?" He nodded, before letting out a significantly sinister sounding laugh.

"Oh, that I did. You will not be sparring against Jasmine," he cracked his neck, "The both of you will be facing me." Oh boy.

This was gonna suck.

XxX

When you woke up the next morning, the first thing you observed was that [i]everything[/i] hurt. You had to admit Mr Masters was riding the both of you really hard during your sparring, to the point where you'd had to use one of his guest rooms to sleep. You were in such a banged up state that you couldn't even trust yourself to drive properly.

But it was helpful. You couldn't deny that. Since you were fighting him, he allowed you to use guns (with nonlethal ammunition of course). It took a while, but you'd managed to start getting some ideas down on how to develop a fighting style of your own with them. It was rudimentary, based off of kung-fu movies and what you did while fighting Will Du, but it was a start.

However, your use of guns wasn't the most interesting thing to have happened. While you were fighting, Vlad was making sure to encourage the both of you to try new things, though both of you were still experimenting with working as a pair. You had experience with Kim, of course, but she was [i]Kim[/i]! She could do anything, even work with someone as… [i]you[/i], as yourself.

Jazz, on the other hand, wasn't doing nearly as well. Sure she was smart and stuff, but you could tell that she hadn't seen much combat beyond sparring with you. Maybe a few martial arts lessons? As time wore on, she had been getting progressively sicker and sicker of Vlad, however. He kept giving little pointers, needled with small insults. You'd been in this long enough to phase it out, but she hadn't, and it was getting to her.

Finally, after a particularly embarrassing and painful match, she snapped. When Vlad began his twenty fifth combat review of the night, she threw aside the notepad she was keeping with frustration written on her face. She stormed off to her room, and you took that opportunity to grab your own little place to sleep.

When you entered the dining room for breakfast today, you could see Jazz's mood hadn't really improved since last night. Vlad's servant had prepared a small plate of pancakes for the two of you to consume while, as he put it, "The Master prepared for your morning training". When she heard that, her mood darkened a little bit. You could sort of see where she was coming from, no one liked to fail, but you couldn't help but wonder if she was taking this too seriously. It was training! By definition, you didn't always get it right the first time, and if you were any standard, you'd probably never get things perfect!

"Why the long face, Jazz?" She idly stabbed at one of the delicious cakes. "It's just training, after all." When you said that, however, there was a loud thunk as her fork plunged into the buttery breakfast. She looked up at you.

"How can you say that, Ron!? It isn't just training! We're learning how to fight for our lives, and we lost. Decisively. Undoubtedly. How can you be so calm about this, when you could die?" You shrugged, which only seemed to make her more tense.

"What can I say? The stuff here isn't about how much we fall. If it was, I'd be the biggest loser of them all. Most of Middleton High can attest to that. No, right now, we learn how to get back up." It was the essential part of your Ron-ness. Nothing would get you down! No matter what hit you, you'd keep swinging until there wasn't any fight left in you. And then some more, for good measure! She didn't seem to buy that, though.

"Maybe you can, but I'm just not feeling cut out for it. I mean, when you and Kim are fighting villains on the news, you always make it look so easy…" Well, yeah. You had Kim Possible at your side? How could you fail? She was good at anything she put her mind to!

"Well of course we do, Jazz. Kim's been training in martial arts since she was six! And I was her punching bag every step of the way," She giggled a little at the thought, "No, seriously. It was up until she took a minor course in krav maga and accidentally fractured my left arm. After that, she mostly kept to dummies, but from Kung Fu to Muay Thai I was along with her from start to finish. I can tell you, from experience, that she did not become as good as she is in a day, a week, or a month. It took a lot of training!" You looked her dead in the eye, "Come on Jazz, you're basically a Possible yourself, you know. And you can do anything you set your mind to!" She sunk a little in her chair, blushing a little bit from embarrassment. Why, you couldn't really place it. It was a good thing to be like Kim! She was amazing.

"If only I could be that lucky…" Ehh, she'd come around, eventually. Before you could continue giving her any more of your amazing cheesy filled nuggets of wisdom, however, Vlad flew into the room in full ghost form, glowing hands at the ready.

"THE MONSTERS WILL NEVER WAIT, CHILDREN!" And then there were ghost beams flying right towards you. Luckily, you'd managed to flip the dining table you were on pretty quickly, catching the plate you'd taken and saving a pancake you'd accidentally sent flying with your mouth. You had a pistol in your other hand, firing from behind the wooden board. You couldn't really see where he was b-

"Oh, and I forgot to have breakfast. So I'll be taking this," A spectral hand grabbed the entire platter of pancakes from the middle of the buffet table. You tried to snatch them yourself, but they were already transparent and phasing through away. Snarling a little a the sheer gall Mr Masters had to take [i]your pancakes[/i], you pulled out your pistol and aimed straight at the plate.

Sadly, he seemed to understand your thought process as the little bit of metal harmlessly phased through the plate and Mister Masters and ended up embedded in the wall. From the left, a golden bolt of energy blasted out from underneath another table. Vlad simply drifted to the side and threw one of his own ecto blast's Jazz's way. He shook his head, turning to his god-daughter. You took that moment to bolt for the door.

"You'll have to try better if you want to beat me, Jasmine. At least Ronald has the sense to [i]move[/i] while his enemy is distracted." Crud. You threw the double doors open and dove through just in time to avoid his next attack. You needed more firepower. Turning into the room, you located Jazz.

"I'll cover you! Get over here!" You shot at him a few times with your pistols, but he simply phased out of the way. You needed something more powerful to get his attention. Something… personal. Your eyes drifted over to a signed helmet encased in glass. With a small sigh, you pointed your pistol at the side of the thing. With a shattering crash, Vlad's head whipped towards yours.

One that was currently sporting said helmet.

"RONALD STOPPABLE! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY SIGNED SUPERBOWL HELMET!" With a dive, you ran down the hallway, ghostly millionaire in pursuit. As you looked over, you saw Jazz's figure poking out of the wall, probably doing her best not to giggle. You dashed towards your room, blasting open the door before ripping through the closet for one of the heavier weapons you'd threw into the bike. When Vlad phased through the thing, with an angry glare, you knew you couldn't win your fight, even if you did hold one of the sawed-offs you carried.

Which meant it was time for more… drastic measures. You abandoned pointing the weapon at Vlad, and instead positioned it right at your own head, and more importantly the helmet that was on it.

"STAND DOWN OR THE HELMET GETS IT!" Vlad screeched to a halt immediately, holding his hands up.

"Woah, woah. Let's be reasonable here, Ronald. While I appreciate your drive to win right now, I really don't think you want to do that," Yeah, shooting yourself in the head wasn't your be- "that helmet is one of a kind, after all." … Oh. Yeah, not really that many qualms. From behind, you saw a small glow.

"Then admit you lost, Mr Masters!" His face played an array of emotions, before finally settling on a face of tacit disapproval.

"Fine, fine." The small yellow glow crept closer, "Now just take off the helmet an-" Now!

"Distractedsayswhat?" The ghost's face contorted.

"Wha-Oof" The yellow glow descended down on the back of Mr. Master's head. From behind, Jazz brandished a rudimentary pillar of yellow ectoplasm, looking down at Mr Master's prone form. Which then disappeared.

"Congratulations," there was a pulling sensation as the helmet you wore was taken away. From your left, you could hear someone clapping. You turned to see Mr Masters, fully morphed and floating in the air. Next to another Ghostly Mr Masters, who was busy dusting off the helmet you were using. "That was a good display of strategy, Ronald. Though it is one I would not like to see repeated. Next time you threaten one of my heirlooms, you will find me notably less inclined to be merciful." You nodded violently, to make sure he got the point. He looked too dangerous right now to really do anything else.

"Understood. Won't happen again, Mr Masters." The answer was satisfactory enough, apparently, and he turned to Jazz.

"Jasmine. It was innovative of you to shape your ectoplasm in such a way. It was not efficient, however, and will need some work if you want to make it into a technique. As it stands, I would consider it very… [i]inelegant[/i]. Now, I think it is time to resume traini-" The buzz of your phone interrupted him. WIth a nervous laugh you flipped it open.

[i]"Ronald. I am sorry if this is inconveniencing you, but I was wondering if you were available tomorrow."[/i] You motioned for Mr Masters to continue.

"Well, I'm sorry Señor Senior Senior. I've got some plans to go with a few friends to a party over the weekend, I'm going to be leaving on Friday."

[i]"Oh,"[/i] His voice dropped a bit, [i]"I assume that means you will not be able to attend the event I am hosting then?"[/i]

"Yeah. I was going to tell you when I had the time. I was just a bit… occupied over the last few days."

[i]"Yes, my son has told me of your little adventure yesterday,"[/i] there was a small pause one the other line, [i]"Are you available today, Ronald?"[/i] You looked over to Mr Masters, who had a neutral expression.

"Let me see," You moved the phone away from your ear and looked over to the man who stole your pancakes, "Do you mind if I step out here a bit early?" He shook his head.

"Not at all, Ronald. If you've got to go, you've got to go. It's not like I don't have enough material right now to occupy Jazz from most of the day." You put the phone back up to your ear.

"Yeah, I'm available. I'll be over there in few minutes."

[i]"Splendid! I shall prepare for you."[/i] He shouted to someone on the other side of the conversation. [i]"Phillipe. Prepare the fondue machine and hor d'oeuvres. I'm meeting a friend who greatly enjoys cheeses for lunch!"[/i] Well, now you had to come over. You wouldn't just miss something like that! You gave a bow to your ghostly friends and took your leave.

XxX

Ten minutes later (mostly because it took you half the time getting to your bike), you were at the Senior's mansion. Taking care to knock on the door, you were greeted by a very happy looking Señor Senior Senior.

"Ronald, I hadn't expected you so early! I hope the drive wasn't too difficult, or the speed laws too restricting." You scratched the back of your head with a little embarrassment.

"Well, I was kind of in the neighborhood anyway, so it wasn't too far." He nodded.

"Fantastic. Now, my cook has managed to get my fondue machine running, so I believe it is time for use to enjoy a light brunch. If you would follow me…" The two of you walked through the halls of Chez Senior until you reached a courtyard that was filled with bushes and other foliage. In the middle of that area was a small Gazebo, which had a very familiar, delicious smell wafting from it.

When you sat down, you saw the magnificent machine, deeper than most of it's kind, bubbling with the savory golden bounty of melted cheese. Beside it were a nice assortment of appetizers, including small blocks of solid cheese. There was precious little small talk when you sat down, likely because you made very sure to sample everything there at least once. After that was done, however, you began to speak.

And was immediately interrupted by the sound of a window shattering and a small scream. From where you were, the prone form of Señor Senior Junior fell from a window onto a bush, positioned as if he was protecting something. You flinched sympathetically, only to see Kim following him down with a battle cry. Ah, right.

The cuddle buddy thing. Looking over to Señor Senior Senior, you motioned to the bush where the fight was about to break out from.

"Uhh… shouldn't you check up on him?" The older man shook his head.

"He will be fine. I ordered break-safe windows, along with some replacements, when I purchased this house. And the bushes are a special elastic breed I purchased just in case this happened. I knew what neighborhood I was moving into, my young friend." Well, you couldn't fault him for being prepared. Junior did get up almost completely unscathed, and continued to run away from Kim, holding the shape you could now tell was the cuddle buddy he'd looted yesterday close to his body. Kim wasn't far behind him, going for a flying tackle. "And besides, I believe we are serving an important role in this altercation." He dipped a cocktail wiener into the cheese before eating it, taking a small moment to savor the flavor. "We are the comedic background event Ronald. I trust you would not like to break such a proud tradition, correct?"

You looked over to the fight, and then back to the cheesy goodness. Then back to the fight, to the cuddle buddy, who you couldn't really muster enough outrage to care about, and back to the cheesy goodness that you were currently dipping a small sausage into. Yeah, your choice was made.

"Of course," you shoved the cheesy morsel into your mouth, "It's tradition, after all!" He chuckled at that, and turned to the fight.

"So which combatant do you believe will prove victorious?" You looked to the both of them, and then leveled a flat gaze at the man.

"Come on, it's Junior versus Kim. You know who I've gotta support. I mean, not like the outcome would be any different anyway…" He nodded solemnly.

"Of course, and you know who I must throw my support behind. Though," he clicked a button underneath the table, and a red boxing glove shot out towards Kim, "I do think I might even the odds, just a little." She dodged it, but the distraction gave Junior a little time to increase the distance between himself and Kim. You shrugged.

"Eh, it will only make this longer." Señor Senior Senior looked over to you.

"Is that such a bad thing?" Was it? Not really. It meant you had more time to eat this delicious fondue, all to yourself.

"I don't think so, sir. Push away!" Sorry Kim, but between the plushie that almost ruined a mission and a delicious brunch with someone you liked, you knew what you'd pick.

Well… picked, right now. And besides, it was only a bit of harmless evil. You knew Señor Senior Senior would never actually [i]hurt[/i] Kim, not in a permanent way.

It would be the ultimate violation of tradition to have a villain without a hero, after all.

XxX

The rest of Thursday, following a fantastic meal with the Elder Senior, was spent packing for Bonnie's party. When you crashed that night, you had enough for the weekend, probably a bit more.

Clothes, deodorant, towel, extra cheese set aside for Rufus at home alongside the instructions for Junior to take care of him during the weekend (you'd worked it out with Señor Senior Senior during your visit), sunglasses in case it got too bright, a sweater in case the heating was bad, two pistols, some soda in case Bonnie needed more, your cookbook of the party favorites (you hadn't actually tested it outside of your family, but you heard it was great), a sleeping bag and mat that you strung onto the back of the bike and finally your trusty sawed-off. Just in case. Never knew what someone could run into on the road, or at a cabin in the woods.

Once that was all ready, you fell into bed and let Friday come.

As the Sun's rays hit your eyes, you knew you were ready. Taking the directions Bonnie gave, you blasted down the highway, heading out of the Tri-city area. Around two hours later, your bike rocketed into the small woods that held Bonnie's family cabin. It was in the northern half of the state, but you made good time once you were out of the city.

As you pulled up, you could already see Bonnie's car, alongside Brick's and Josh's. You were glad you'd gotten there a bit early. It would be weird to just be there, especially since you were sure Bonnie didn't say anything about your presence. If you'd been here first, then people wouldn't assume you got an invitation by mistake! When you parked, however, the three mentioned exited the building. Bonnie was, of course, the first to speak.

"Well, if it isn't the Loser. You do know the party's just stated, right? Don't you know anything about being fashionably late?" Well, no. Anything fashion related tended to fly over your head, in fact. What, did people buy clocks at club banana too?

"Uh, no. I just figured it would be good to be on time. Especially if you needed help setting up." Josh nodded.

"Nice. Well, man. We were actually about to take a little detour, before the party's got into full swing. You see, we know your doctor's base isn't too far from here, and we were all thinking it would be nice to visit Tara sometimes around Christmas. You know, given she's been on the [i]otter[/i] side of the state recent- OW," Bonnie's elbow was enough to stop the lame pun, but he still continued, "and she's been out of touch for a while, which kinda sucks. I know she'd be stoked to see you too, man. It's about a half-hour out, if you wanted to go." Well, that sounded kinda nice, except for the fact that you [i]knew[/i] Kim was going to be here in about an hour in Mr Dr P's car. She said she was just going out to say hi to everyone there, have a few snacks and then go back. It would be kinda rude to just ditch her like that. Brick noticed, your look, and cut in.

"You don't have to go, man. If you don't we'll just tell her you're a bit busy helping prep the party or something. She'll understand." Yeah. But then again, you couldn't help but feel a bit responsible for what happened to her. Then again, ditching Kim, for the second time this week, was kinda scuzzy in and of itself. So what would you do


	31. Week 13- The Party

You were torn. On the one hand, you really felt like you should go see Tara. It was _your_ fault she'd been transformed into a mutant otter girl! On the other hand, you'd already done what you could to fix your mistake. You were pretty sure that she wouldn't want to see you right now. Her best friend, her boyfriend, even Brick would be better than you. You'd just bring everyone down, and that would be a really crappy thing to do.

Plus, somebody had to stay here and keep an eye on things. If you left, then who'd be here to welcome the early guests? Kim was going to be here, though she said she wasn't staying the weekend, and you were sure she wouldn't be the only one needing looking after.

And so, with a heavy heart, you shook your head, "Sorry Brick, I appreciate the invite, but I'll stay here. I'll make sure everything's ready, and play host as people start to show up."

Brick nodded solemnly, "OK dude, if you're sure."

"Brick, honey, come on!" Bonnie cried as she dragged him towards the car by the arm, "If the loser is staying that's one less thing we have to worry about! Let's go!"

Josh shook his head at Bonnie's typical Bonnieness. "Alright man, we'll see you in a bit. I'll let Tara know you were thinking of her!" He smirked at you, "You otter be anyway!"

You smiled nervously back, and waved them all off. You stood on the porch and watched them pile into Bonnie's car and take off, before walking back into the house. You sighed deeply for a moment, then took stock of things. The place was locked and loaded. Bonnie wouldn't have been willing to leave you here alone if she hadn't been 100% sure that everything was ready to go right? You figured you probably shouldn't touch anything out here, decorations, furniture, or anything else. You'd never been to a popular party before, but you knew the score. You didn't want to give Bonnie a single solitary reason to blame you for the chaos that you were sure was going to swallow this house.

Instead, you headed towards the one place you knew you could do no wrong, where you were the best of the best of the best. **THE KITCHEN!**

It was a pretty nice setup honestly. About what you'd expect from an upper middle class vacation home. All the necessary tools were here, a six burner oven, a double sized upright fridge, and enough counter space that you'd probably be able to serve a six course banquet without any problems. Well, besides getting all the ingredients together, and then preparing the whole thing yourself. You shuddered for a moment at the idea of the hours of non-stop cooking _that_ would require before you shook the idea off. You liked cooking, but something like that was nuts! That wasn't what you were making anyway! This was a party! It was time to make some PARTY FOOD!

And what was party food without CHEESE! You'd brought everything you needed for some killer fondue and every other kind of cheese a party could possibly need. Never let it be said you were unprepared to spread the glory of Cheese wherever you went. Granted, it'd gotten easier to do that after you started hanging out with Jazz and her godfather. Now, there was a man who appreciated his dairy!

Given this was a vacation home, you'd had to bring most of the necessary cooking ingredients with you since the house would only have imperishables, but that was fine. It just meant you had your preferred load out to work with.

You swirled through the kitchen, cooking up a storm. Pots, pans, spoons, whisks, and a dozen other cooking implements weaved through the air as you conducted a symphony of deliciousness. In short order the whole house was filled with the scent of melting cheese and delicious cooking food if you did say so yourself. Now that was a way to welcome guests! They'd pull up and know from the very first whiff that this was going to be good!

You weren't quite sure how long you spent in the kitchen, getting everything just right, cooked to perfection, and ready for the oncoming hordes of hungry guests. By the time the doorbell rang, and the first guest arrived, you had enough food to feed an army. It'd have to do!

Setting the last of the timers for your more involved culinary creations you grabbed the fondue atop its burner and went to let the first of the guests in.

You ran to the door, throwing it open to find… KIM!

"KP!"

"Hey Ro-" She couldn't completely finish her sentence as you tackle hugged her. She patted you on the back. That patting soon became a tapout sign as your embrace went of for a few seconds. You let go, only now noticing the Possible family and a few cheer squad members gaping at you. Kim's cheeks were red from embarrassment."So, uhh," She coughed a little into her hand, "How is everything? It smells wonderful from here." Oh, yeah. Right. With a small chuckle, you moved out of the doorway, opening it up to the group.

"Well, I'm just busy getting the last of my goodies set up," there was a loud ding from across the building, "...aaaannd that was the cookies finishing! Let me go get something for you guys since you've still got a bit of a car ride ahead of you." Kim nodded, before giving you a look.

"Wait, you know where Drakken's hosting the party." You shrugged.

"He sent an invitation 'to the Buffoon Sidekick of MY GREATEST ENEMY!' I had other plans, but I was seriously tempted, if only to see what kind of company party he'd throw." Well, that and you'd had to hide there one of the days you were stealing the superfoods for Shego's Birthday cake. "Now, I've got some cookies that have finished baking. Your family want some for the road?"

"I don't thi-"

"COOKIES!" Jim and Tim ran into the kitchen with some sort of… _things_ around their hands. A few seconds later, they came back with a small bag of chocolatey loot each, and one in their off hands. Each took a bite, and their eyes widened. As one they turned towards you and Kim. A single tear coursed down each of their cheeks.

"What, is Ron's cooking so off the mark this time?" They shook their heads as one.

"Marry him, Kim." You could see the blood rising back to her face from such obvious embarrassment.

"TWEEBS!" She chased them out of the house, past the returning forms of Bonnie, Brick and Josh. They gave you a nod, though Josh complimented it with a thumbs-up. Kim ran back to the car, gave you a big wave with the rest of her family before speeding off towards Dr D's party. With that taken care of, however, the rest of the guests stood in wait as the steam from your fondue pot wafted past the entrance. Brick's nose scrunched up.

"Is that _fondue_?" You nodded, and you were certain the grin he made would have been painful on another man's face. He turned to Mankey, who sported a similar look, and then to the football team, who didn't look totally convinced about you yet. When he saw that, his smile slipped a bit. "MY DUDES, HE HAS BROUGHT THE RIGHTEOUS MUNCHIES! LET US PARTAKE!" And with that, he ran into the building. There was a small cry, and the rest of the men followed suit. Bonnies didn't follow, but instead looked on with a small glare of disapproval. You gave her a weak smile.

"There's also cupcakes, cookies, and Brownies…" The look remained, and a few of the cheerleaders took up her expression, "...all low-cal, of course." Pfft, as if. Though it seemed to be enough for her to accept the idea what you were cooking was anything near edible. She shuffled in, and the rest of the cheer squad followed suit. One of them even winked at you! Well, that or she tried to blink and failed.

As they all shuffled in, you closed the door and prepared to party! Well, after making sure all the food was out of the oven.

Only to hear a faint knocking on the door. You opened it to find Jazz. She shrunk back a little when you opened the door, "Hey Jazz!"

She blushed a little, probably because she felt so out of place, "Hey. I kinda heard there was a party going on here, and I thought I'd stop by," She kicked at the ground a bit, "That's not a problem, is it?"

Well, Bonnie wouldn't be thrilled about it, but she did sorta know Jazz so it'd be okay. Right?

"I'm sure it'll be fine." You moved to the side and motioned in, "So come on in!" She shuffled through the door, and there was a small roar from the Football players who thought Kim had come back. With their raucous greeting, the ice was broken. Bonnie gave you a look that was more questioning and exasperated than actually angry, so you figured it was okay, or close enough anyway. Before you could shut the door, however, another figure slid through the opening.

"Hey, weI heard there was a party here, and thought we'd attend." He looked kinda familiar, but you couldn't place it. You would have taken more time to pinpoint his face, before you were hastily shoved aside by Bonnie.

Who was already fawning over him.

"Well, hello there. Please, feel free to come in. It _is_ my party, after all." She jabbed you in the stomach with her elbow, to reinforce the fact. Since the question was almost literally taken out of your hands, you resolved to finally get back in and enjoy the party against all the other distractions. Though you could swear you saw a shadow moving past the door as you closed it. The day grew into evening as you continued to party, and to be quite honest it was a lot tamer than you'd come in expecting. Sure, you didn't think Bonnie would be dumb enough to throw a rager, but you were sure she'd have brought alcohol around. Not that you wanted any, but it sorta ruined the image if the only thing you had to drink was some poorly mixed punch.

You were actually about to school these cheerleaders in a round of twister when the sound of a low flying helicopter caught your attention. You didn't know anyone nearby who'd use something _that_ over the top, and from the look on Brick, neither did he. The sound got louder as the chopper got closer. The rest of the guests had noticed it by now, and everyone ended up looking towards the noise - right outside the front door. You could see the whirring of blades through a nearby window, as the machine slowly came to a halt right in front of the building.

Was it a supervillain? Even though you didn't think that was likely, your hand still drifted towards the hidden holsters on your pistols. Just in c-

"THE PARTY HAS ARRIVED, BITC-" The moment the door was kicked open, your hands blurred into motion, drawing both guns and pointing them at the intruder. The sound of cocking shotguns was a comforting indication that you weren't alone in your fear. The door-kicker, a blonde girl you didn't recognize-maybe a villainous fangirl or something, quickly shifted from a smile to an annoyed grimace as she looked over the room. "Jeez, what crawled up your asses and died?" Before you could respond, however, another person walked past her.

"God, Panty. Is it so hard to get into your empty skull that kicking down the door at a _party_ we weren't invited to might be a bad idea?" That name… sounded familiar.

"Oh, come on Stocking. They need to lighten up. And besides," her hand flew to a space behind her back, bringing out some redheaded kid that she waved in front of her companion, "geek boy here got the invite, and it said he could bring along guests." Did it? You didn't really check over the thing itself to make sure. She turned to you before anyone else, "And even then, it doesn't give short and scraggly here a reason to point a pair of freaking guns at me, does it?"

"Uuh, that's Ron Stoppable, Panty," Huh, so _someone_ recognized you.

"Come again?" Well, one person was better than none.

"You know, Kim Possible's sidekick?" WOO! Somebody didn't screw up your name or position for once! "He's the guy Bonnie told me about." ...Annnnd you wouldn't deflate from that comment. Not one bit. No siree. She was still looking at you, while the other girl had disappeared. Welp, now was as good of a time as ever to re-introduce yourself.

"Hi, I'm Ron Stoppable. Sidekick extraordinaire and party cook," You held out your hand, "It's nice to meet you, miss…" She took the hand.

"Panty," Wow, her parents must have hated her. You thought that was a nickname. "My sister Stocking is currently hitting up your kitchen for food. And this," she threw the kid down to the floor, "is Nerd Boy." The guy picked himself up, after brushing himself off.

"M-my name's Briefs. It's really nice to meet you." He seemed… nice, though you were pretty sure he might not have actually wanted to be here, "I, uhh, wouldn't have come with the invite Bonnie sent me but I wasn't really given a choice." He continued to laugh nervously into his hand, and you could already feel people beginning to fall into an awkward silence. You were about to break it, but Bonnie beat you to it.

"How'd you get the helicopter?" Yeah, that was a good question.

"Well, my family owns five so I don't think they'd mind if one disappeared?" He phrased the last bit too nervously to indicate it was his idea. Ah well, you're pretty sure he should have told someone first. After all, the seriously loaded like Seniors tended to be pretty chill when Helicopter rides were needed.

Still, that was enough to break the ice, especially for Bonnie. She had some rather pointed questions about why her pen pal never actually told her about the fact that he was freaking loaded. And then you finally managed to get to your twister game!

None of them saw what was coming when the Ronster gets _flexible_! Most left in shock when you managed to contort yourself just enough to get a hand on both the red and green corners while your legs were on yellow and blue. However, a few of the cheerleaders stayed, though a lot of them seemed a lot more uncoordinated than you remembered. After all, you kept getting people reaching past your buns to score a point! Most egregious was Crystal, who went so far as to slap you butt when you managed to plant your victorious hand on the red. You almost collapsed right on top of her, if you weren't more coordinated than you felt.

Once that was done, you hit up the punch bowl again. Someone must have added a bit more mix or something, because it was starting to taste a little better. Before you could get back to the twister tiles, and what you were beginning to think was casual sexual harassment, a knock came at the door. You threw it open to reveal Vivian, who also carried a large bag with her.

"Hey Ron." You nodded.

"What's up, Viv?" She looked into the room, and motioned you outside. When you'd shut the door behind you, she unzipped the bag.

Wow, those weapons looked richer than you! You were just glad it was night time already, otherwise you'd pretty sure you'd have had to avert your eyes from the glare.

"Well, I said I'd take care of it, so here you go," she pulled out a dagger, "One bag a' werewolf killing silver, primed and ready for use! I've got knives, bullets of every caliber under the sun, and even a sword for Jasmine." You… didn't know how they figured that out, but you certainly weren't going to call it a bad deal.

"Thanks, Viv. I do have to wonder where you got so much, and how you knew Jazz would be here, too!" She shrugged.

"You have friends in high places, Ron. Sometimes, all you need to do is ask," her face took on a more sinister visage, "And as to how I knew your pen pal buddy would be here? Well, I have my ways, Ron."

Ehh, that was good enou-

"W-w-what are those?" The ki- Briefs, Was peeking out from the doorway, his head (and presumably his eyes if you could see past his bangs) was focused on the bag of weaponry and ammunition. When he realized both of you were staring at him, he chuckled nervously. "Going to go kill a werewolf… or something?" You looked over to Viv, whose shrug communicated her own apathy well enough. Eh, might as well run with it. The worst he could do was assume you were crazy!

"Yeah, that's what these are for." He seemed to take that like you were playing some cruel joke.

"Oh come on, guys. Werewolves aren't real. I mean, sure, I help Panty and Stocking fight ghosts or whatever, but there's a certain limit to what you've gotta believe and I'm pretty sure Angels that make weapons out of underwear are more believable tha-" He stopped himself mid-sentence, as you wondered what the heck he was talking about? Sure, demons existed. Rabbi Katz even killed one for you! But Angels that made weapons out of underwear? That sounded like a bad Drakken scheme, not an actual threat. Meanwhile, it looked like whatever processing the dude's brain was doing had finished, and his whole face lit up at once. "You mean Werewolves are real?" You nodded, and he took a moment to understand the world shattering revelation "Vampires too?" You smiled at him.

"I helped kill two of them." He continued to nod, even though at this point you were pretty sure it was done because his head's nerves were all too busy trying to figure out what you'd just said. Finally, however, he snapped out of it.

"So, you're a monster hunter too?"

"Yup." It wasn't all sunshine and roses, but you'd be damned if the way Briefs was looking at you right now didn't make it all worthwhile. It was almost like how normal people looked at Kim when they thought she wasn't looking. It felt nice.

"Ohmygodyou'rethecoolestguyiknowteachmeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" The guy's anxiety had vanished, and been replaced by an almost pathetically desperate energy. It honestly reminded you of yourself.

This… was going to be a long night.

And you just realized you punch cup was empty again. God, when had it gotten so good?

XxX

The party kept up at the pace, though there weren't any more surprise arrivals as the night wore on. You spent most of the time wandering around, refilling your punch cup whenever it emptied itself. To be quite honest, you were starting to get a bit tired. You weren't tired yet, but you didn't really want to play any more games of twister. Nor did you really want to play blackout football with Brick, the dude who came in late, and the team. He invited you to join, but honestly? You liked your bones _un_ broken. One of the new girls, the blonde, had taken the opportunity to openly ogle the players. You swore you could see drool dripping from her mouth.

The Cheer Squad had taken to gossiping inside. Bonnie, ever vigilant, managed to drag Jazz and Vivian away with them. Probably to talk about the boys they liked or something. You were almost certain Jazz had a crush on someone back home, given the wistful looks you'd seen on her face now and then time during training, and Vivian was more than pretty enough that you were sure she had a boyfriend... somewhere...

Honestly, a part of you wanted to eavesdrop on that particular conversation, if only because it would likely be pretty interesting, even before the subject matter came into it. A glimpse into the mindspace of the Middleton High Cheerleading Squad would do wonders for your popularity! Of course, Bonnie pretty firmly said this was a girls-only session, and she gave the football team a very obvious glare when she said that. It may not have been directed at you, but it was enough for you to gauge the situation. No boys allowed!

So, you settled in to sit in a corner and people watch, while chowing down on your own bowl of fondue. It wasn't quite the blast you'd been having, but it was still a pretty fun. You sipped at your cup, comfortable in your own solitude for the mome-

"Hey Ron" Josh entered the living room with Briefs in tow, a massive bowl of popcorn in hand. You could smell the buttery goodness from here, and you could see the seductive layer of cheese powder lovingly dusted over the tiny white nuggets of deliciousness. "We're about to put on some old cartoons while everyone else does their thing. You want in?" Well, you couldn't just say no to such a kind and generous offer. You got up from your corner and plopped down on the couch facing a decent Television one of the football players had managed to loot from his own house for the party.

As Josh clicked, the ever familiar opening to HE-RO blared over the speakers. You took a handful of popcorn, and prepared to reminisce with some grade A Nostalgia Fuel.

XxX

"BY THE MIGHT OF SILVERSP-" You all groaned as the TV shut off. As one, the three of you turned around to see Bonnie standing there expectantly, remote in hand. The distaste was written on her face, only slightly masked by a small smile.

"Hey, there's a game of spin the bottle starting up soon on the porch, if you guys want to join up," Her eyes flicked back to the blank TV screen, "Or whatever." She walked off, putting the remote back on the table. In easy reach. You wanted to grab it, but before you could, Mankey stood up.

"Well, I'm going. It's dumb, but it's a party staple. Tara wouldn't mind at all. In fact," He winked at you, "I'm pretty sure she'd be _pretty_ jealous of the people here if she heard who was participating. You guys in?" To be honest, you couldn't argue with that logic. The only objection you had was that it was just about to get to one of your favorite episodes in the series.

But how could you look Kim in the eye and tell her you'd partied to the fullest if you didn't do this?

No, you'd do it! You'd live your first _real_ party experience to the absolute fullest! You got up, following Josh outside the building. There was a small circle already forming, and you sat down next to your artsy buddy. A body hitting down next to you confirmed that the ginger newcomer had indeed followed you.

Across from you were most of the Middleton Cheer squad. Crystal, hope Marcella, Liz, Jessica and Bonnie looked at you with a plethora of emotions. Next to them was Zita… who you hadn't actually seen coming in. Bonnie must have gotten her when you were watching HE-RO or something? Next to her was Jazz, who was currently busy blushing as fiercely as she could while avoiding eye contact with literally everyone. Behind her was some asian girl you hadn't seen before. She was sitting next to Hirotaka and speaking in some language you couldn't understand, however, so she must have come in with him? Though you swore he came in alone.

Huh, maybe she's a ninja or something?

Viv was next to those two, with some other asian girl who was staring at you intensely. There was a small space left, that was quickly filled by Brick and two of his football teammates. The blonde girl who'd arrived with Briefs came in with her goth friend in tow, shoving her down into the circle. There wasn't enough room for more people, so the rest of the football team simply sat on what impromptu seats they could manage to get and settled down to watch. Though some looked disappointed that they couldn't participate, a few others sported somewhat uncomfortable grins as they looked over the circle's spread. Once everyone was seated, Bonnie stood up and looked over all of you.

"Okay, for any newcomers, these are the Middleton High spin the bottle rules. 1) If the bottle lands on you, we spin again to see who you kiss. If it lands on you again after the first spin, we do it again until it lands on another person. 2) You _must_ kiss the person it lands on, and you must do so on the lips. Refusal to do so will get your wimpy butt kicked out of the circle. Even if I don't want to kiss someone like the Loser," she motioned to you, "I will do it. I expect no less from the rest of you. 3) What happens because of the bottle shall be kept secret by all observers and participants. If I hear anything about this game at school, I will not be pleased. If I see any pictures, you will be punished by me _personally_ and with _extreme prejudice_. Have I made myself clear?" Everyone in the circle nodded quickly. "Good. Then let's begin!"

She put an empty soda bottle down on the floor, and gave it a spin. It rotated around the circle a few times, before landing on Jessica. She blushed, before taking hold of the thing and giving it a good whirl. It didn't have as much strength however, probably due to nerves, and didn't even manage to get a full rotation before it landed on the blonde newcomer. Blondie seemed annoyed by the situation, but still got up and grabbed the cheerleader by her collar for a deep kiss. You could hear a few members of the football team guffawing from the sidelines.

After she got back down to the floor, she gave the bottle an annoyed flick to get it in motion. It spun around a lot, before finally setting on its next victim.

Her, again.

Before anyone could comment, she sent the bottle into motion once more, crossing her fingers for luck. As it slowed down, you could see her eyes lighting up as it looked to be stopping near your group, but it continued on for a second more, pointing it's fateful opening at Liz. She got up and violently kissed the redheaded not-Kim cheerleader, before sitting down with a small twitch coming over her eyebrows.

Liz took a few seconds to gather herself, before taking the bottle and sending it into motion. Funnily enough, it landed once again on the twitching blonde, who you could see was beginning to get tired of getting picked. Once again, it landed on a member of the Cheer Squad- Bonnie. The thrice chosen girl let out a choked scream of annoyance, before getting up and locking lips with Bonnie angrily, breaking off with a trail of saliva between the two. The guys on the sidelines let out a few whistles in appreciation, which seemed to smooth over her turbulent mood.

Bonnie, unfazed, took her chance to spin the glass. It went around a few times, before finally landing… back on her. She sighed, before going at it again. This time, there was a bit more force in her action, and the bottle flew around for a short bit, before finally going past her. To land on the girl to her right, Hope. There were a few more cheers from the guys around you, including Brick this time. Bonnie gave her boyfriend a wink as she leaned over and gave her fellow Cheerleader a deep kiss to the cheers of the lascivious crowd.

Once they finished, Hope took the bottle and set it on its new path, one that would end up landing on the Asian girl you hadn't seen before. She smiled, before twisting the thing herself. It skittered around in a circle, before finally settling back on Liz once more. The redhead got up and gave her a quick peck on the lips, turning red as she walked back to her place in the group with the bottle in hand.

The next victim of the glass' rotating rampage was Marcella, who took the bottle and set it out to find its prey. It went around the circle a few times, before it began to stop near Hirotaka. You could see her grin widening immensely as the glass decelerated, only to watch as it landed on his friend. She sighed in disappointment, only to be drowned out by the catcalls of the football team around her. Not one to kill the mood, she swept up Hirotaka's companion and gave her a good long kiss for the guys to watch. As Marcella finished, she gave her desired target a wink, before sitting back down in place.

Hirotaka's ninja friend took up the bottle, before giving it a twirl. It spun round and around, before finally beginning to slow down. It stopped, pointing at Josh. You sat there, waiting for him to pick it up and continue. You were there for a few seconds, before he elbowed you.

"Hey man, you've got to spin the bottle." Huh? But you could've sworn it had landed on him. No way that glass arrow of cupid would land at your humble feet and give _you_ a chance to kiss any of the many cute girls here! Surprisingly though, a moment's observation proved that fate had finally given you a shot! You grabbed the clear vessel, pausing for a moment and feeling no small measure of awe in its selection, before finally setting it on the path to, hopefully, break the streak of Sir Ronald 'never-kissed-by-a-girl' Stoppable. You wouldn't give too much stock into it, however. Given your luck, it'd land on one of the du-

It stopped in front of the goth chick. She glared at you, before looking at her blonde companion.

"Panty, I'm not doing this." You deflated slightly. Ah, well. Rules or not, you weren't kissing someone who didn't want to be kissed. You stood up, and leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek…

...Only to see your chosen partner looking back at you with shocked eyes. You broke it off immediately, seeing the goth's cheek depressed by her companion's hand. It seems, rules or not, that someone wouldn't just let your kind gesture fly. You sat back down, trying not to look you first kiss in the eyes. You mean, you'd tried kissing once with Kim when you were six but that totally didn't count, and family was out of the questio-

"Hah! That was totally his first kiss, Stocking! Thank god I stopped you from blue-balling him, sis!" You could see the blonde on the floor, laughing. Stocking, however, angrily grabbed the bottle and threw it at the ground, watching as it spun. She smirked as it landed directly to her left, on the laughing form of her sister. Before anyone could do anything, she twirled it around, letting it spin once more with a devious glint in her eyes. As the blonde stopped laughing, she looked down to see the bottle landing on Zita.

Before Panty could act, Zita got up and planted a chaste kiss on her lips, before taking the bottle in front of the now-aggravated Blonde. She set it into motion, watching as it cycled through the circle, before finally setting its sights on Crystal. She put it back into motion, watching as it sought a new target. Seconds later, the gaping mouth of the bottle pointed back towards Zita. The two stood up, before Crystal leaned in to give her assigned partner a deep kiss. Zita's eyes widened, among the hoots and hollers of the rest of the group. Once they finished, she took the bottle and gave it a shellshocked roll.

It landed on one of the football players. You… thought he might be one of the linebackers for the Mad Dogs, and Brick gave him a reassuring slap on the back. He picked up the glass, and gave it a hearty rotation, watching with hope as it spun for a while, before finally slowing down at the asian newcomer. He got up to the cheers of his friends, before dropping his partner down into the cliche romcom pose, and giving her a single kiss to the raucous uproar of his teammates. Once he was back to a normal position, he gave a bow and sat back down.

The linebacker picked up the glass bottle, with a shiteating grin on his face, and spun the bottle. It flew in a lazy arc around the circle, before finally settling its point at the girl he'd kissed once more. She chuckled, and spun it around once more. While it rotated in an arc, she caught your gaze and gave you a quick wink. Man, you didn't even know her and she was already messing with you! Besides, it wasn't like the bottle was going to land o-

And it landed on you. She gave you a wink, getting up to saunter towards you before leaning down towards you, and looking you dead in the eye. You scrunched your eyes shut, and puckered up, waiting for the inevitable brief sensation of her lips upon yours.

"Can you get me an autograph from Kim Possible?" There were some snickers from around you as you rapidly blinked your eyes open in shock. You paused for a moment, her eyes staring dead at you from less than a foot away, gave an awkward smile, and a shrug.

"Uuh, sure?" To be honest, despite the awkwardness, you were kinda glad _someone_ could put two and two together to realize you were Kim's sidekick when she wasn't right next to you! Before you could do anything else, the girl let out an excited squee, " _SWEET!_ "

And then you felt her weight smashing into you as she slammed you to the ground in a full body tackle. Before you could react, her mouth was on yours, forcing you to take a crash course in tonsil hockey to the snorted laughter, scattered applause, and raucous calls of the rest of the group. You sorta lost track of time due to the blitzkrieg assault on your mouth, but eventually the kiss ended, and the girl bounced off of you smiling, a trail of drool linking her mouth to yours before it snapped as she pulled pulled back.

"My name's Jade! Jade Chan!" she grinned, "Thanks a lot Ron!" You watched her go back to her seat in horror, and _maybe_ a little arousal, before blinking away the shock, numbly taking the bottle, and spinning it. It revolved a few times, before finally landing on the asian dude, Hirotaka. He gave the room in general and the circle in particular a smug smirk, grabbing the bottle and twisting it while smiling in the general direction of the cheerleaders. You could see a few of them glaring hopefully at the bottle, before it slowly began to stop...

 _On you?!_ Of course. You knew your streak of luck had to end sometime. You could see the disappointment written in the faces of the Cheer Squad, though you were surprised to see a few of them start to blush instead. You shuffled up, trying to avoid eye contact with the dude as he sauntered toward you. When you were right next to him, you couldn't help but look anywhere else. However, he grabbed you by the chin, and looked you in the eyes.

"Why don't we give them all a little show, since we've got to do this anyway?" Before you could do anything, his hands grabbed you in a dancing position. "Shall we?" You sighed, and resigned yourself to your doom. It was only a quick brush on the lips, thankfully. Once he finished, you gathered yourself up, did your best to ignore the red blush spreading across your face, and sat back in the circle. Josh patted you on the back.

"It happens, man. No hard feelings. What happens in this circle stay's in the circle. And besides," He snorted, "You two made it look pretty good, if the crowd's reaction is anything to go by." He thrust his thumb towards the circle.

Yeah, you were going to do your best to ignore the fact that more than a few of the girls looked like the football team had a few rounds earlier. That kind of thinking wasn't good for your sanity. You shakily grabbed the bottle, and did your duty. It pointed at Hirotaka once more, and he seized the thing, giving you a wink, before setting the glass on it's path. When it stopped, it pointed at Jessica, one of the more red-faced cheerleaders.

Before he could even react, she flew at him in a diving tackle, doing her best to suffocate him with her lips and tongue. You wondered if this was what Jade's glomp had looked like from the outside. It lasted for a few seconds, until she had to come up for air. The poor dude quickly separated himself from her the moment her lips stopped contacting his, grasped her shoulders, and gently set her down right next to him. As if realizing what she'd done in front of everyone, the cheerleader's face turned a scarlet so dark you could swear she was about to start spontaneously bleeding from the skin! She hastily grabbed the bottle and spun it onward to its next victim as she scrambled back to her seat.

The next target was Crystal, who gave a confident smile as she seized the bottle and sent it spinning. Her face was filled with hope as the small thing skidded to a stop near your group and, more importantly, Josh. However, her face sunk as it landed on the scruffy kid sitting next to you. Nervously, he got up and approached her, probably trying his best not to look too freaked. She got up with a sigh, looking poor Briefs in the face with something approaching disgust. As the poor guy chuckled nervously in the face of her obviously negative attention, he pushed his hair aside to pucker up for a sho-

Nope. For whatever reason, the cheerleader dived for him immediately, pulling him into a deep kiss for all to see. She must've liked what was behind those bangs. She pulled away, letting the kid slowly walk back to his position, before falling in a heap at your side. You patted him on the shoulder, and watched as he spun the bottle.

Bonnie smiled as the mouth of the bottle centered on her, and took her turn as quickly as she could. It revolved around the circle a few times, before finally setting its next victim- Jazz. Bonnie gave a devious smirk, before meandering up to where your ghostly friend had shakily stood up. They didn't kiss, not at first. Instead Bonnie whispered something in her ear, before turning to you and smirking. She grabbed Jazz and pulled her into a long kiss, much longer than you thought either of them would have gone for. However, rather than stiffen up like a board, Jazz seemed to _reciprocate?!_ After a moment though, they both pulled back to catch their breath, Jazz blushing up a storm.

Well, you had to admit it. That was pretty hot. Jazz took the bottle, putting it on a new rotation as she sat back down and tried not to look at anyone in particular.

The bottle spun round and round, before finally coming to a stop far away from you, on one of the football players. You think he was a running back, but you weren't sure, you didn't really spare much brain power for the who's who of the Football team beyond making sure they didn't have any reason to corner you anywhere. He took the bottle and crossed his fingers as it spun, mumbling under his breath and closing his eyes to shield him from the fate until he couldn't hear the spinning any longer. When it was over, he looked up to see Josh staring at him blankly, before shrugging. Your artistic buddy got up, and gave the player a quick peck on the lips as he grabbed the bottle and sent it back on its way.

It landed on Zita, who seemed pretty stoked to have the bottle for once. She put it into rotation, looking on hopefully as the glass made its way around the circle for the umpteenth time. You wondered who'd get it this time. It seemed like most of the time it was girls getting girls, so odds were good it'd probably be-

It landed on you.

Again.

What.

The.

Heck?!

Zita didn't seem to mind though. You guessed that she wasn't a fan of some of the other players, which made sense since she was a big gamer geek. She probably had some bad history with some of the populars. You stood up and watched her grin as she moved towards you and gave you a solid kiss. If it weren't for your little adventure with Jade, it'd be the most longest kiss you'd ever had.

After a moment she pulled back, smiled at you, and turned to walk back to her seat. You weren't sure, but you thought you saw a hint of blush too. That'd just be weird though, she was just being friendly.

You blew out a deep breath and shook yourself, before taking the bottle and spinning it back on its way. It revolved through the circle two times, before slowing and pointing at Jade. You freely admitted to yourself that you were a little intimidated by the way that she lit up and grinned again, pumping one fist in victory. She grabbed the bottle and spun it with more force than anyone had used in a while. It spun and spun, until finally it slowly began to stop, right as it hit the area where the Cheer Squad was congregated.

The bottle slowed, its open mouth pointing right at Crystal, who shrugged, stood up, pecked Jade on the lips before she could react, and sat right back down. Jade pouted, and the peanut gallery gave some hearty boos.

Crystal spun the bottle up and around and around it went, slowing as it approached you, Briefs and Josh. For a moment you thought you'd be up again, but in the end it was Briefs who got caught. He blushed a bit, swallowed noisily, looked around the circle, and spun the bottle. It moved pretty fast, Briefs' nervous energy translating to a pretty mobile bottle, before it spun down pointing at Bonnie, who rolled her eyes.

Bonnie shot Brick a quick glance, caught his returning grin, and walked quickly over to Briefs assessing him for a moment. She let out a deep sigh, rolled her eyes again, and pecked him on the lips as briefly as she could manage. He squeaked in response, his face completely red. There were some catcalls, but you and Josh just patted him his shoulders reassuringly as Bonnie walked back to her seat with the bottle.

"Alright," she yelled to the room, "I hope you've all had fun cause this is the _last round_. It's getting late, and I have a full day planned for tomorrow." She cast her eyes around the room, meeting eyes and generally freezing everyone with her sheer presence. "None of you are going to ruin my party planning, right?" A shudder shot through the spine of everyone present, in the circle or not. The only exception was Brick, who just grinned at her. You didn't know if that was him being oblivious or in love, and you didn't think you wanted to find out.

Bonnie nodded once, and spun the bottle. It didn't have much energy, Bonnie was clearly ready for this to be done with, and it landed, for the fifth and final time, pointed straight at you. You guessed you were the last man standing tonight. Ignoring the jealous stares of the men around you, the bottle was put into its final spin.

...Aaand it landed on Bonnie. Of _course_. With a sigh, you both got up and faced off in the middle of the circle. Each of you waited for the other to make a move among the jeers and catcalls of the crowd. Finally, when it had gotten annoying enough, you leaned i-

AH! NOT THE NOSE!? Both of you reeled back at the impact, to the raucous laughter of the crowd. You stood there, checking your precious sniffer for blood with both hands as Bonnie approached. You hoped she hadn't done any permanent damage, you needed a working nose to cook! Bonnie's hands pried your own away from your face, before she leaned in and gave you a quick peck on the lips. As you fought off the urge to dramatically spit or retch in response to this violation of all that was good in the world, Bonnie looked you dead in the eyes.

"Remember the rules, Loser," her eyes narrowed, "If this gets out, you'll wish you'd never been born," she pulled you down, "Capiche?" You nodded. It wasn't like you were particularly aching to tell Kim you'd kissed her sorta-mortal enemy. You didn't have a death wish.

You shivered at the thought of Kim finding out this had happened. God, that was deterrent enough. Bonnie's undoubtedly horrific vengeance would pale in comparison to the puppy dog pout set to kill instead of stun!

Shoving your own embarrassment down, you walked away from the site of the bad-sick-wrong, jockeying past the rest of the football team to get some shuteye to this long day.

After all, you still had Saturday to look forward to...

XxX

You woke up bright and early the next morning, even though it went against the grain to wake up before noon on a Saturday. Bonnie hadn't shared her party plan with you, but you had bigger concerns to start with.

Mainly, the headache hammering in your head. Man, you'd never been this dehydrated waking up, before! Groggily, you flopped out of the couch, and walked into the kitchen. No one else seemed to be up yet, and from the bevy of snores you were hearing from practically every direction, you were certain you wouldn't wake people up by rustling a decent breakfast together. You opened up the fridge to look for something you could work with…

It wasn't much. To be honest, you were surprised someone managed to bring _that_ much ground beef, and hamburger fixings. Sadly, it didn't leave much room for other stuff. There were a few eggs, but not nearly enough to feed the large group of people here. Maybe your own little feast yesterday had stretched your ingredients a little too thin?

Yeah, that must have been it. With a sigh, you went looking for a pen and some paper to write up a list, and your eye caught on something familiar. It seemed some of the punch from last night was still there, probably sealed up by Bonnie or Brick when everyone went to bed. Gingerly, you took it out of the cold container, and rustled through the nearby cabinets for a glass. You'd have gone for the plastic cups, but they were back in the living room right next to Zita. Apparently she'd decided that was a comfortable spot? Once you'd gotten a glass out, you filled it with liquid.

As you drank it, you wrote down everything you couldn't find, everything that the kitchen was missing for you to make some _good_ food, and double checked it, making sure you'd gotten everything essential down. Once the glass was empty, and your note complete, you grabbed the keys to your bike and prepared to head out towards the nearest town you'd seen. It was only 20 minutes out if you were thinking things through correctly- you could make it there and back in fifteen if you wanted to speed.

Which you would! Sparing these good people from a horrible brunch was your duty as a cook! You did take off gently though, creeping around the myriad vehicles strewn about the driveway and nearby road. There was no reason to wake anyone up before you were ready, after all. Once you were certain no one would hear your engine's roar, you fired it up and blasted towards the nearest grocery store with purpose.

XxX

Luckily, the next town over had something you hadn't even dared hope for. A CHEAPO! There was nothing you loved more than a good deal. Sure, Smarty Mart was your first love, but you still had a Cheapo membership card just in case. Hebrew National Hotdogs were the best!

You parked your bike, grabbed a shopping cart, and started dashing through the aisles. Normally, you'd be a bit more relaxed in your shopping, take your time to find the perfect version of each and every ingredient you needed, but unfortunately you were on the clock. You didn't know when anyone else would get up, heck, you weren't really sure how you'd lucked out in being the first one awake. That meant you had to get what you needed and get back to the house asap. Otherwise there'd be hungry guests, and that would be a horrible black mark on your honor as a cook!

The house was fairly well set as far as meat went, and you had a fair amount of bread and condiments, but just about everything else needed reinforcement. You grabbed spices, veggies, and most importantly every flavor of cheese you could get your hands on. By the time you were done criss crossing the store at a dead run your cart was piled high with the fixings for just about anything you might want to cook. It almost brought a tear to your eye. You were sure if your little buddy were here it _would_ bring tears to his, but sadly Rufus was stuck at home. This whole popular party thing wasn't his scene, and he'd decided he wanted the run of the house for the weekend. Kim said she'd take care of take care of him, she was cool like that. If he'd wanted to you'd have brought him along anyway, but you didn't feel too bad about giving him some solo time. After all, you didn't want him to have to deal with a full football team of big dumb drunk jocks who didn't know their own strength and cheerleaders who might have mistaken him for some sort of less benevolent rodent. Rufus could handle himself with supervillains, but he shouldn't have to watch out for danger for days at a time. He'd never get any sleep!

As you were pondering this, and moving through the checkout, you pulled out your food card. Your parents had set up a debit card for you after the third time they'd gone off on a long weekend and left you some money. It had just been easier. You were only supposed to use it for food, and you had to go over a full accounting of what you spent money on with your dad, but that was a small price to pay for a regular Naco fix. You'd even augmented it with your pay from Bueno Nacho, but you still had to justify your expenses. Dad took fiscal responsibility _seriously_. You didn't really get why, it wasn't like the first time you got a bunch of cash you'd go crazy with it, right?

You shrugged away the idle thought, paid for your purchases, and pocketed your receipt. You moved all your bagged goods back into the shopping cart and made for the exit. It was only when you stopped in front of Last Dawn that you realized that you ... didn't actually have anywhere to put most of the food you'd bought. You were considering breaking down and calling the house for a pickup, loathe though you were to wake anyone up, when the sound of a car horn caught your attention.

You looked around, and saw Hirotaka's friend hanging out of the driver's seat of a nondescript blue sedan. "Do you require assistance, Stoppable-san?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah, thanks!" you blushed, "I kinda forgot I'd need some help hauling all this stuff back." You paused for a moment in confusion, "How'd you know where I was? Or that I'd need help?"

"I am a girl of many talents, Stoppable-san," she smiled back at you mysteriously, "My name is Yori."

"Oh, right! Names. Yeah, uuh," You held out a hand, "Mine's Ron Stoppable, though you already know that. Nice to meet you." She giggled and took your hand, before stepping out of the car to help you pack.

The two of you loaded up her car together, and headed back to the party house. You didn't know how Yori had figured it out, but you were glad she'd been there. You just hoped you got the food ready before anyone _else_ woke up!

XxX

You pulled in right behind Yori's car around fifty minutes after you'd left. It took you ten more to unpack everything and get the necessary ingredients either on the counter, or stored away safely into the fridge.

With that done, it was time to make brunch! You looked over the massive bags of flour and sugar, accompanied by a few boxes of baking soda and salt, four full cartons of eggs, six gallons of milk (not all for cooking, of course!) and a bulk box of butter.

Immediately, you started to mix the solid ingredients in a bowl, heating up all of the stovetops so you could melt the butter you needed for this massive project. After about three minutes, you poured the melted butter into that massive mixing bowl, mixing the ridiculous amount of proto-batter the best you could. Once you were certain your ingredients had a nice even consistency, you got out a small bottle of vanilla and a small shaker of cinnamon. Taking great care, you dusted the spices into your mix, making sure to stir them in well enough that no one would miss them, or be getting hit over the head with the flavors.

Once you were sure the batter was as close to perfection as you could manage under these conditions, you began pouring the decadent stuff into the pans, making sure to fill them up in their entirety.

When Ron Stoppable made pancakes, he did not skimp.

As it began to sizzle in contact with the butter, you hunted through the utensil drawer you'd seen earlier for a spatula hardy enough to take the abuse you'd be dealing. This would take something special, some thing...

Aha! Deep within one of the utensil draws you found just what you had no idea what it was made of, but you found a burnished golden spatula that looked like it could take some serious stress. Which was exactly what you needed!

With the proper equipment and ingredient prepared now, all you needed was time. As the first round of fluffy goodness was prepared, you got a flat pan out and heated up the oven to a temperature warm enough to keep your food from getting cold as you worked on the others. As it preheated, you began to flip the first batch. The spatula you were using didn't even bend under the strain as you continued on. By now, the smell was beginning to waft throughout the room, and you couldn't help but salivate at your own marvelous creation. As the first completed, you'd made sure to grease the pan again, not relying on the initial remains to carry you much further.

You had a long way to go, after all...

30 Minutes, 70 whopper pancakes, and six pounds of deliciously sinful bacon later, you were almost done. At this point, it was inevitable that others would wake up, and exercise their own curiosity at what was happening. You were lucky Brick had been the first one up. He knew how seriously you took your cooking, and when you asked him to be your wall against the rest of the party's distractions, he did it. If he hadn't you'd have had to keep them away with words and, when that would have inevitably failed, one of your guns.

Cooking en masse was _serious freaking business_ , after all.

Even then, the Goth girl from last night had attempted to assault Brick twenty minutes in to get at your fluffy little slices of Heaven and almost threw you off your game _anyway_. You were lucky her blonde friend had enough good sense to pull her back before things got bad. You'd have to make sure Brick got first pick of the food when it was ready.

Finally, you'd finished up on the sausages and put them in a bowl alongside the heaping pile of bacon. You wouldn't eat them, but the Jock and Cheerleaders needed protein, right? Helped with muscles and stuff for strenuous activities. With that completed, you gave Brick the first piece of bacon. The dud earned it. After that, you opened up a drawer and fished out some oven pads so he could safely carry the frankly massive mountain of melty pancake goodness you'd created. Bonnie came with him, and you had her take the small group of toppings you'd whipped together. She scoffed at you at first, but the glare you'd shot in return - along with the promise that she'd be one of the first to get food - was enough to get her to play along. Yori slipped in soon after, and you had her take the drinks out for everyone, consisting of a variety of juices, hot chocolate, and coffees. You'd have sent out the punch, but you'd managed to polish off the rest while you were cooking. It was pretty warm in that kitchen once you got going, after all.

With that done, you grabbed the salad bowls filled with meat and followed them out. You thought they were going to go to the table in the living room where the punch had been last night, but instead everyone poured outside. You followed the group out to see a long line of tables. As you walked, you took pride in the fact the _everyone's_ eyes followed the plate Brick was carrying. Though a few of the football players did turn to you when you got closer. Brick and Bonnie placed their platters on a central table that didn't have seats. Once everything was laid out, Brick looked over to you, and you gave him a nod.

Luckily, you were close enough to avoid the stampede approaching the table and grab a seat. It was next to Bonnie, but you wouldn't let that ruin your appetite. After you'd finished your first helping, you went back for seconds. Already, the group was busy digging into their own food, and some of the jocks were already heading back for more as well.

On the way there, you were sure someone hit your butt on accident, but you were too preoccupied with getting the rest of your meal to hear if the perpetrator apologized for it.

Still, sore keister aside, you were having a pretty good time. Seeing everyone enjoying your food, perhaps a little _too_ much in the case of the goth girl.

Finally, though, everyone finished up. Rather than staying mostly together like yesterday, it seemed like people were splitting up to go spend their afternoon doing...any number of things. It looked like there was the potential for you to do anything you wanted here, since making brunch basically stripped you of all responsibilities until dinner prep-time rolled around.

You weren't sure whether they wanted you to cook the burgers now, or if you'd be able to just chill. So you might as well take the time you had in the afternoon to hang out with people.

XxX

[X] You'd been approached by Brick. He was going to go play football with the rest of the team that was here. He said it was their tradition, and the dude wanted _you_ to be his ace in the hole for the game.

You formed up with Brick and the rest of the football players. It wasn't exactly the way you'd normally spend your afternoon, but you were pretty sure no one would tolerate you bringing out the Fearless Ferret disks you'd shoved into one of you bike's containers. There was just no accounting for taste amongst the populars. So you figured you'd help out your buddy, since he actually wanted your help. You were pretty sure this wouldn't end well- the members of the football team that stood here were all huge, and you were, well, _you_. Still, Brick seemed pretty relieved to have you.

"Hey Ron, glad you're here, man. We've got an odd number of players, and I need you in my corner." He paused, "You _are_ in, right?" You gave him a nod, and he clapped you on the shoulder. "Good to have you with me, dude."

One of the guys, you recognized him from last night, walked up to the two of you.

"Hey man, is he in?" Brick nodded, and the other guy turned back to the rest of the jocks and yelled, "Okay guys! We're good to go. Lenny, I'll go with you, Jack, Marcus, Dave and Steve." The five players whose names were called split off and moved away to the other side of the small open field in front of the cabin. Brick looked over to the few guys he had left, and brought them into a huddle.

"Okay. Blair, Nelson, Peter and Cal. This is Ron, and he's going to be the linchpin of my cunning plan here. Now, you guys ready to play?" They nodded, and you repeated the gesture. He yelled something you couldn't make out toward the other team, and walked with the rest of you towards the middle of the field, where a football was planted. Everyone got in formation, with Brick at the center. You looked up to see one of the really large guys, much bigger than you, glaring down at you with a vicious grin. To his side was another player, almost certainly meant to barrel past you to get to Brick. You heard the hike, and before you could register anything else there was a 200 pound teenager coming right at you.

And then he was to your side, with a surprised look on his face. But you were in full flight mode! There was a pair of football players coming right at you. As you continued your screaming path towards the other side of the field, there was a flash of something in your eye. You reacted on instinct, catching what turned out to be the football with surprising ease. You looked back, after tripping over a shoe that was left on the field, making sure the two dangerous dudes weren't still pursuing you.

To your surprise, no one was coming to get you. The entirety of both teams, excluding Brick, were staring at you dumbfounded from the other side of the field. Your buddy gave you a pretty big double thumbs up, however.

Unfortunately, that was the last time things went quite that easily. You had to duck, dip, dive, and dodge multiple walking tanks every time your team was on the offense. It seemed like the entire enemy team had marked you as a threat. Oh, you managed it, and left more than one football player scratching his head in confusion at how you'd gotten past him, but it was _not_ fun having to constantly evade multiple two hundred pound plus piles of muscles out for your blood!

Even more amazing, to both them _and_ you was whenever one of them finally managed to slam into you, your legs just wouldn't give. Especially when you were on the defense. Apparently, all your practice in the Hunting Club was paying off!

Of course, that didn't mean you were totally up to snuff against trained football players, but it meant you managed to pull out quite a few surprises during the game. Sadly, the time Brick had you attempt a blitz wasn't one of them. These guys still outweighed you, by _a lot_ , and you just couldn't bowl them over once they'd gotten their feet under them and prepared.

You and Brick still won, though. The score was about 34 to 28 by the time all of you had finally gotten bored. Of course, by that point you'd all managed to burn through a bunch of time and most of brunch.

Over the course of the game, you'd gained a few watchers. First was the rude blonde who had shown up with the goth girl and Briefs, hooting and hollering at nearly every play with a lecherous look on her face. It was somewhat funny, but also uncomfortable. You weren't a piece of meat! About half an hour after she showed up, Hirotaka, Yori and Jade sat down next to her. Each of them were observing the game, but you swore Jade seemed to think it was a competition between herself and the blonde to see who could cheer harder. It was flattering that she cheered mainly for your team, but it was still pretty distracting after a while.

You had to give the jocks credit for acting like that didn't really exist when they played.

By the time you'd all managed to cool down from that, Brick had already brought out the grill and thrown a few burgers on. You'd thought about helping cook, but he'd firmly rejected your offer. It was understandable. A man's grill was _his_ responsibility, and no one should take it from him.

That was what dad said, at least. You'd trust in his infinite wisdom on the matter.

You picked one of the table to sit by, and waited for Josh or maybe Jazz to come around. What you didn't expect was the rest of the football team to swarm around your position. The leader of the other team, Adam, sat next to you.

"Dude, those were some smooth moves out there! I'm surprised Mr. Barkin didn't try scouting you for the team. You'd make a killer running back, dude." There was a chorus of agreement from the rest of the team. You shrugged. It wasn't like you were some amazing player or anything. You just did what any sane man would do when the alternative was getting crushed by hundreds of pounds of muscle.

"I mean, I don't think I'm _that_ goo-"

"You outran _Nelson_ , he's one of our best running backs. I think you'd got what it takes." Lenny, one of the two from spin the bottle yesterday, interrupted, "Hell, I'll do it for the coach. Do you want to join the football team? We could use someone like you." Well, that was flattering, buuut.

"No." They all reeled back at your blunt rejection. "Look, guys, I'd love to. Heck, I know it'd make me instantly super-popular. But between the Hunting Club, missions with Kim, and school I think it'd stretch me a bit too thin. I'd hate to be the type to bail on you guys because something else came up, you know?" There was a chorus of respectful nods. Before anyone else could say anything, however, Brick brought down a small platter of hamburgers with a selection of toppings. There were even a few hotdogs for you, too!

"Eat up, guys. I'll be over in a second once everyone else gets served. Leave one for me, alright?" As if letting the dam burst, the entire table scrambled for the delicious food in front of them. You'd even managed to get a hotdog and cheeseburger for yourself! Heck, you'd even managed to get some bacon on both of them! Score! Once that was done, Brick himself settled down into an open seat on the other side of you. He handed you a glass of punch, and took the remaining burger on the plate.

"Dude. You've got some sick moves out on the field,' He took a bit from the burger, but continued speaking, "iff only you could haf jhoined the team." He swallowed. "But I know you're a bit busy with the hunter stuff. Heck, I'm surprised it hasn't happened during one of the games yet. That would have been a pretty gnarly choice to make."

"Would you have gone if it had?" Nelson spoke up to Brick's side. He gave the idea some thought, before shrugging.

"Maybe. I mean, hunting can be some serious business, you know?" Lenny scoffed in the middle of a bite.

"Come on, man. I hunt with my grandparents. You basically just it there, wait for hours until something comes out and shoot it. How dangerous could it be?" Well, yeah. Out of context, it'd probably sound pretty lame.

"I mean, yeah, but it's about handling dangerous weapons out in the open where some strange stuff can happen. It's always good to have someone you trust at your back. Especially when you're hunting something like that wild animal people have been reporting around Middleton. I mean, I've seen some pretty weird stuff already, and the club's only been around for three months." Brick nodded.

"Yeah. It's been pretty crazy all around." The team only seemed a bit more curious after his rejection, and continued to pester the both of you with questions about this elusive club. Some even asked if they could join up. You both rejected that, of course. You needed time to vet the prospects, and _then_ you had to make sure Mr B would be able to train them a bit at the range. Not to mention the whole teambuilding stuff you'd had to go through. You were actually lucky you had as many team members as you did right now, with all the work that went into things.

Of course, the exclusivity of this all only made them more interested. By the time the afternoon meal was finishing up, you couldn't help but feel that maybe you'd accidentally added a layer of mystique to your club? Man, you just hoped that didn't spread in the school. The less people that pestered you about monster hunting without knowing it was monster hunting, the better!

Even through the near constant barrage of questions and requests, however, you managed to finish the meal. After everything was cleaned up rather easily, Brick made sure to use paper plates, you all retired to the living room.

You sat around for a while, before Bonnie put on some sort of boring chick flick. Brass Petunias. You didn't have anything better to do, so most of you just sat down haphazardly around the room, and watched it in.

And you certainly didn't cry at the end with the rest of the football team. No way.

Once that was done, however, Bonnie started grabbing out some tiny plastic cups from somewhere in the house. She started pouring a bunch of them full of punch, before setting them out in rows of ten.

You were already getting the feeling this was going to turn into something like the game of spin the bottle from last night. That had you feeling bit scared, but not totally unwilling. Memories of some more pleasant, if sorta weird, experiences yesterday began to food your mind. By the time Bonnie called for the game to begin, you'd already managed to secure a spot nearby. About ten more people came rushing in. Jazz had sat down next to you beforehand, seemingly confused about the whole thing. After that was done, Bonnie walked around, setting a row of small cups for you all. Once she'd finished she looked at you all.

"Okay, so I was totally getting bored during the movie. As a result, I felt it would be necessary to spice things up a little tonight. Are any of you unfamiliar with the rules of 'Never Have I Ever'?" You raised a hand, along with Jazz. Most of the crew from last night wasn't here. There were a dozen people altogether. You, Jazz, Bonnie, Brick, The two sisters, Yori, Hirotaka, Jade, Vivian, Josh and two of the football team who managed to secure spots. Bonnie rolled her eyes at your open ignorance. "Okay, so. When it comes to your turn, you say something that you haven't done with never have I ever to start with. If you haven't done it, don't do anything. If you have, you finish one of the drinks of punch. Understood." Simple enough, especially for an innocuous but devious game to figure out people's secrets. Though the punch insistence did seem a bit weird. Maybe she could do just as well using fingers or something?

Then again, taking one of the cups was a much more obvious action, and would make cheating without withholding information pretty hard.

When you nodded, Bonnie simply returned it and pointed to your left, at Jazz. "She'll start." Your ghostly buddy seemed to fumble for a bit, before finally speaking.

"Never have I ever gone mountain climbing." You took a hit, and so did about two thirds of the group. Having Mount Middleton meant pretty much anyone who liked outdoors stuff did it at least once to say they'd tried. Really, the only one who hadn't was Bonnie and you didn't see her as the type anyway. Then it shifted to the next person, one of the football players you'd been up against- Jack.

"Never have I ever driven more than twice the listed speed limit." Given you were sure everyone here had a license, it wasn't too unusual to see most everyone taking a hit. The punch left a tingly feeling as it washed down, and you couldn't help but wonder if it was made improperly again, like last night. Next was one of the guys who was on your team during the game earlier, Blair.

"Never have I ever seen something from a horror movie in real life." He paused, and you were about to raise another cup, before he corrected himself, "And not some crappy Halloween stuff. Real terrifying shit." He was looking between the hunting club members, as every one of us took a cup and downed it. Heck, Jazz did too. Living in a house with ghosts did that. More surprising were the trio of asians all taking one, too. Must have seen something pretty out there where they came from. After him was Josh, who winked at Bonnie with a devious glint in his eye.

"Never have I ever shoplifted." The cheerleader gave an irritated groan as she brought one of the tiny cups to her lips. You did too, of course. Spending time being trained by Shego included that, sadly. Internally, you wept for your lost innocence, those poor stuffed animals hadn't deserved that! Once you'd put down the cup, you looked over to the next person, the blonde intruder from yesterday. She rubbed her chin for a bit, before giving a nasty smirk.

"Never have I ever kissed someone I hated." Her companion grumbled before taking a drink. You could feel Bonnie's eyes on you as you took your next little sip of the strange punch. You didn't want to look at her in fear of catching the withering glare. You _knew_ she was taking one as well. After her was Brick.

"Never have I ever met a ninja!" Dang, and there goes another glass. Stupid monkey ninjas. You heard a chuckle to his side as Hirotaka looked over you all.

"Do I count as a ninja? If so, I would recommend everyone take their drink." Yeah, he seemed sorta ninja-y. When no one acted, however, he took his turn. "Never have I ever been locked in the friendzone."

...Drat. There goes another one. Heck, you could feel the group looking at you. Some with pity, others with confusion, and Bonnie with amusement. Figures. Funnily enough, Jazz lay her own cup down on the floor once more Maybe she missed someone at home? Before you could ask, Bonnie slammed down a cup and looked at you specifically.

"Never have I ever seen a man hung bigger than 6 inches." You sighed. Other than the disturbing thought that Bonnie might have seen you naked, you remained unconvinced and took another shot. You were the only one. Everyone stared at you. "What?" you blinked at them all, "It's mine. I'm not gay, not that there's anything wrong with that... or Ron with that? Hmm..." Was it hot in here?

As if to break the tension, the Goth girl spoke up next.

"Never have I ever killed something." Well, shit. You were almost done with everything. You didn't even get to say one yet! Another one went down the hatch. As it did with Brick, Josh, Bonnie, the Goth's companion, and, surprisingly, the entire asian trio. Most of those who hadn't drunk something couldn't help but stare at the others in shock. Jazz just sighed. Finally, however, it hit Hirotaka's turn. He looked at you with a little bit of pity in his eyes, before giving the room a smile.

"Never have I ever fantasized about someone in this room." You could took a heavy sigh, before taking the final little cup and downing it. Now that you were out of the game, however, you felt like doing something else. You stood up an-

"HEY! WHO TURNED THE LIGHTS OUT?!"

XxX

You woke up groggy, with your head pounding. You also seemed... oddly encumbered. For some reason you couldn't move much. It felt like you had a bunch of super ultra heavy blankets on you. You tried to blink your eyes open, but man, someone had turned the sun up to 11. Had there been a supervillain attack on it or something? Maybe an Atmosphere destabilizer? You tried to wiggle your arms free a bit, and gave it up for a lost cause. Whatever it was that had a hold of you only grabbed harder when you tried to pull free. You almost went back to sleep before you realized that your blankets had made disgruntled feminine noises when you'd tried to pull free.

That got your eyes open right quick, glare or no glare!

You had to blink for a couple of minutes to clear your vision, and wait for the pounding in your head to subside, but then, you saw something weird. Truly, honestly super amazingly bizarre.

There were girls everywhere!

The blanket on top of you was Yori, Jazz was on your left, Kim was on your right- with Jade was spooning her!

A hint of movement in your oddly firm pillow caused you to look up and it was VIVIAN?!

It ... what... how... when ...

You lay there for a minute, your brain almost completely turned off from shock, before you noticed the entire Football Team _and_ most of the Cheer Squad, huddled around the open door frame, looking directly at you.

Clapping.

It was then that the reality of the situation hit you, with the only proper response.

" _ **AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"**_

XxX

Yeah, you were pretty sure the guys were messing with you now. Especially since you got nothing but giggles and snickering from anyone when you tried to ask what happened last night.

Nobody was talking.

It was pretty danged frustrating, since there was a big night-shaped gap in your brain and not one of these jerks was willing to give you anything more solid than snickers or waggling eyebrows. You didn't get it! You'd had supervillains do less damage to you than whatever it was that happened last night! You were honestly the next best thing to terrified right now, it was like Kim always said: "You're always your own worst enemy, Ron!"

Finally, however, you started to get answers instead of laughter from the onlookers. Dragged out probably being an apt way to put it, given how slow they were. Not that what you got was… super helpful, or even remotely complete. It seemed like you'd been on and off the radar last night more than you might have wished.

You decided to just focus on trying to figure out what happened and ignore everything else about this situation. You ignored your blinding headache. You ignored your inability to move. You ignored the _reasons_ for your inability to move, and you certainly ignored the fact that most of said reasons were slowly starting to make noises that indicated a return to consciousness.

You. Ignored. Everything. Else.

It was necessary for your sanity!

"Okay, dude. Last thing I remember seeing was your drunk ass jumping up at the last shot and leaving the room. You mumbled something about getting some food and flew into the kitchen, of all places. We could smell something cooking, but Bonnie said that unless something was on fire not to touch it. Apparently, you're really protective of your food."  
-Lenny

"Yeah, you were in the zone, man. Totally out of it and focused on your cooking. Of course, Brick wasn't there to guard the door this time so that Goth chick made a beeline for the kitchen once the smell made it to the living room. There was some noise, and a lot of clattering. I looked in and you two were sucking face. Swore I saw some chocolate sauce on you, dude. "  
-Cal

"Of course, we weren't the only ones who heard. In fact, the asian chick who'd shown up alone had just finished losing the rest of never have I ever- Bonnie probably should have stopped when you finished, but she was too into it by then- heard what was going on and sauntered in. In fact, I swear the first thing she does is drunkenly lean forward and grab your ass. Man, I thought _I_ had game but there you were, with two girls practically trying to suffocate you."  
-Dave

"The last thing I remember of you last night was walking into the living room with those two all over you, holding a plate of brownies you'd just slid out of the oven. Then, you dropped them on the table and screamed 'I'M NOT PREPARED. GIVE ME A SECOND.' Before anyone could tell what was happening, you ran out of the house, slammed onto your bike and blasted down the driveway. I don't really know what you were doing, but that was the last I saw of you."  
-Marcella

"Of course, we all looked when your bike roared to life. I'm actually surprised no one called the cops. We all knew how far gone you were, but I guess nobody really figured you'd get hurt. Your redheaded friend left a little after, still only five down in never have I ever. She said she'd tail you to make sure you were all right. I don't remember hearing a car start up though. Weird."  
-Liz

"While you were gone, though, the two you were with didn't stop. In fact, I'd swear they were just as into each other as they were in you! They kept on going pretty hot and heavy in the kitchen. Nothing too risque, but it was a helluva show. Heck, I even saw your blonde not-Tara friend from the club enjoying the festivities a little. She _might_ have had a glass or two more of punch while you were gone. "  
-Peter

"The next thing we know, they've cut themselves off and moved out of the kitchen. Half of us are still wondering what the heck's going on while the other half are wondering if you'd managed to kill yourself on the ride out. After a while, however, we just started to lose interest. It was getting on and some of us decided to go to bed to try and avoid the killer hangover we all knew was coming."  
-Marcus

"So of course the next thing I hear before going to be is the screech of tires. Hell, most of us thought you wiped out on the way to the gas station to get whatever it was you wanted. You _were_ gone for nearly an hour, after all. Heck, I almost called 911 to check up on you. The door bursts open, and in you run yelling, 'I HAVE-A THE GOODS, IT ISH TIME.' at the top of your lungs, before rushing to one of the bedrooms."  
-Crystal

"The wildest part is who comes in the door next. None other than Kim freaking Possible. I mean, I know she was here yesterday, but girls don't just appear out of thin air, you know? Before anyone can say anything, or Bonnie could even get in a word edgewise about her flushed face, there's a clatter from the room and she just barrels towards the noise. I mean, I've seen some scary stuff but I did _not_ want to be in her path as she vaulted towards whatever you had going on."  
-Blair

"Possible must have been how you made it back safe, cause you were still pretty wasted. About five minutes later, your other redhead walked in, and started looking around in confusion. It ended up being the other asian girl who told her where you were, and what was going down. The two of them disappeared off towards your room together, and I thought it wasn't gonna end well, but nothing happened."  
-Jack

"Meanwhile, the rest of us normal people were going to bed. I was on my way out too, but then I damn near slipped on some sort of bottle near the door. Now, I didn't know what exactly it was, but when I showed them to Brick he got a really big grin on his face. Like he'd seen some of the funniest shit ever. Still don't know what it was, and I didn't feel like taking strange pills at a party, if you know what I mean."  
-Nelson

"So, when everyone got up this morning, we noticed that a bunch of people were still asleep. I looked around about an hour ago and found you guys all just ... in a pile there on the bed. I couldn't believe it!"  
-Jessica

"So, I caught Jess coming back from your room, white as a freaking sheet. I was wondering what happened, and I walked in to see _this_. I didn't know how to react, filled with fear and awe as I was. Shit, I damn near woke you up to declare fealty with the rest of the team before realizing that was insane."  
-Adam

"Those of us who were actually awake at that point all decided to have breakfast. We needed the hydration. Not the punch, though. Bonnie managed to get out early and snag some water and soda for all of us, to compliment what you' already got yesterday. After seeing how wild things got last night, I'm pretty sure all of us decided never to do this _ever again_.  
-Hope

"I was all for getting everyone together and waking you up so we could cheer your most righteous accomplishment dude, but Brick wouldn't hear of it. Said it would cause an incident, and only make things worse."  
-Steve

"Hey man, I just wanted things to be cool. Ron, you're a cool dude, and you all deserved some kudos for whatever it was you managed last night, so I thought a round of applause would be a nice idea for when you finally woke up. I kept an eye out to make sure things stayed cool."  
-Brick An audience might keep Possible from killing anyone too, girl is freaky strong when she's angry.

"Keep in mind, I'm still considering killing you. The fact that you contained your little party to one room is good and all, but I expect you to clean this up."  
-Bonnie

XxX

Now, Bonnie wasn't kidding when she said you'd be cleaning.

Not that you wouldn't have volunteered anyway. You ate a quiet brunch, ignoring the small gaggle of, well, everyone looking your way. The people you'd woken up with had a number of different reactions, but you did your best to ignore them amid a growing blush. Even Kim. NO! Especially Kim!

You just focused on your cleaning and did what Mister Barkin had once told you was the only way to survive the results of inebriation. Repress, repress, repress!

That worked great! You were even starting to look forward to the explosive training that the Club was going to be doing this afternoon! Things were looking up! Right up until you finished cleaning, and it was time to leave. Then, things would probably have gotten tricky if you hadn't lunged for your bike at warp speed.

Luckily, you didn't have to deal with anyone else's rides. Most of the group had left before you'd finished cleaning up, Kim included. Odds were good she probably hadn't notified her parents she'd be going out last night, Especially if what your surrogate memory-holders had told you was accurate. She probably needed to beat feet back home to make sure Mr. Dr. P didn't kill her.

Or you, for that matter. You shivered at the thought of taking an impending one way space probe to a black hole.

No one really protested when you blasted out of the driveway and onto the highway. It was a great party, but you'd been left with a lot to process.

Nothing defusing a bomb under highly stressful conditions while being tested on your form couldn't help, though! For once, you felt a small glimmer of happiness that Mr. B would be pushing you all to the breaking point with today's exercises. It'd give you a great way to vent, and get your mind off of whatever in god's name had happened.

 **A/N: Sorry for the massive delay you guys. RL got in the way, and then I kinda had to do this in chunks to keep myself sane. But here it is now, in all its 15k glory.**


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